Doppelgangers!
by gracegrrl007
Summary: First off let me say that this is, indeed, a crossover, but there was no category for Idolmaster: Xenoglossia so I just classified it normally. Now, for the plot: It is a normal day at 765 Productions when the portal first appears. No one is sure where it leads, but what they do know is that out of this portal comes an otherworldy twin for the idols! Who knows what could go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

If a character has a "Xeno" prefix, followed by the first two syllables of their name, that person is from Idolmaster: Xenoglossia.

If a character has an "iDO" prefix, followed by the first two syllables of their name, that person is from The iDOLM STER.

If a person has a "Doppel" prefix, followed by the first two syllables of their name, that person is a doppelganger created by me. The only time this will occur is for Project Fairy.

XenoIo's POV

It was late. I knew that. I totally knew that! But even if I'd wanted to sleep, I couldn't. Something was keeping me awake, was pulling me, was calling me. I wanted to know what it was. I yawned and stretched, sitting up in my bed, glancing to the dumbbells by my side. I groaned.

"Why can't I sleep?!" I cried, speaking to whatever it was that was keeping me awake. That was when Baka Ribbon-excuse me, Haruka-opened the door. She looked just as tired as I probably did.

"You can't sleep either, Iori-chan?" she asked quietly.

I moaned. "No. Why, you neither?"

"No."

I leaned back in my bed. "What's keeping us up?"

"Yukiho-chan and Ritsuko-san are up also," Haruka pointed out. "Nobody can sleep."

"I don't understand," I whimpered. "I think…it's calling to me."

"'It' is…?"

"Yeah, It is!"

"I don't understand, Iori-chan…" Haruka muttered, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"That's because you're Baka Ribbon, and Baka Ribbon is always even more stupid when she's tired," I scoffed. "Haruka…hey, Haruka?"

"I'm still here."

"Do you feel It too?"

Haruka placed a finger on her mouth. "A little…oh, um…earlier I heard a whirring noise. Is that what It sounds like?"

"How should I know?" I sighed, exasperated. "Geez, Haruka, really…wait, did you say a whirring noise?"

Haruka nodded.

"That's weird…" I said under my breath, standing. "Baka Ribbon. Come with me, and let's investigate!"

"Do you think it's them?" Haruka breathed. "Trying to talk to us?"

I froze. "Baka Ribbon will be Baka Ribbon, after all," I laughed, trying to sound cheerful. Not for her sake, but for mine. "Stupid. They're gone. They can't talk to us."

Haruka nodded slowly, a smile frozen on her face. "I miss him," she whispered.

"We all miss our iDOLs. But that's not going to change anything. They had to sacrifice themselves or they would have had nothing to come back to." I started walking again, out the door and out of the dorm. It took a while for me to realize that Haruka, Yukiho, and Ritsuko had all followed me.

What we found weren't the iDOLs—not that I thought it would have been—it was a huge, swirling mass of space. A nothing, almost. But it was alive-and it was calling to every single one of us. Taking a deep breath and Haruka's extended hand, I plunged into the Nothing, taking the others with me. The question was…where were we going?

iDOIo's POV

"Ugh, what is taking them so long?" I groaned. "Producer and Ritsuko should have been back with the milk long ago. They're slacking."

"Don't worry, Iori-chan," Kotori said brightly. "I just got a call from Producer-san, and he and Ritsuko-san will be back very soon."

"That's what he says, but can you really trust a word that guy says?" I complained. "Yukiho, make me some tea while we wait."

Yukiho stood from her place beside Haruka on the couch in the agency and hustled into the kitchen, obeying immediately.

"Thanks," I added over my shoulder.

"You're welcome…" Yukiho called back.

I took her spot on the couch. "It's getting really late."

Haruka nodded. "Yeah, and Producer-san and Ritsuko-san are still out. What do you think is taking them so long?"

"Ritsuko's probably being annoyingly specific," I laughed. "'Two-percent milk, Producer! We need two-percent!' Doesn't she know my favorite is skim?"

Haruka laughed back. "Maybe…oh, Yukiho-chan, how's the tea coming?"

"I-it's fine," Yukiho stuttered. That girl may be good at making tea, but she was always so shy. It kind of irritated me. One of these days, I was going to turn Yukiho into a real thug. I had no idea how I would do it…maybe hire her a personal trainer? It'd have to be a female trainer though, or she'd never listen to them.

As I was pondering this, the door opened. Ritsuko's face appeared in the doorway, and Producer behind her, holding two paper sacks stuffed full with stuff. I leapt to my feet.

"There you are! Why do you have so much stuff?! All we needed was milk! Skim milk, mind you. I hope you didn't get whole milk, you know I hate whole milk..." That was when I saw them.

Four people, standing behind Producer and Ritsuko, looking bloody, dirty…and exactly like us.

XenoIo's POV

I didn't know her, this head-banded girl in front of me. But somehow, she seemed achingly familiar—and by that I mean she looked exactly like me. Sure, the hair was a bit off, but she had the same skin, the same face, the same eyes…although mine were a little darker. And on the couch was a girl hat looked just like Baka Ribbon! Speaking of Baka Ribbon, that girl went straight for the one that looked like her and began to introduce herself.

"Hi! I'm Haruka, Amami Haruka. What's your name? You look a lot like me…"

The other Baka Ribbon looked shocked. "Um, I'm…Haruka! Amami Haruka," she explained, obviously a bit unnerved.

"There are _two _Baka Ribbons?!" I gasped.

"Baka Ribbon…good one," the other me snickered. "Why did I never think of that?"

I approached her and stuck out a hand. "Minase Iori."

Gingerly, she shook it. "Minase Iori-chan. Pleasure to meet you."

I narrowed my eyes. "You're Minase Iori, I'm Minase Iori…that's Amami Haruka and Amami Haruka…"

"And I'm Akizuki Ritsuko, and this is Akizuki Ritsuko too!" our Ritsuko piped up, gesturing to her look-alike, who gave me a curt nod.

Yukiho squeezed into the room. "That's strange," she commented. "How will we know which is which?"

Just then, a girl who looked just like Yukiho came into the main room holding a tray of tea. "I-I finished the tea, Iori-chan…" When she saw our Yukiho, who waved politely, she squeaked and dropped the tray to cover her mouth with her hands. "Wh-wh-who are y-you? A-and why do you look like me? And w-why are there so many Haruka-chans?!"

The Harukas waved. The other me took one look at the spilled tea and looked straight at the man who'd walked here with us.

"You! Producer! Clean that up, will you?" she demanded. The man sighed.

"Fine, fine."

"I'll help!" offered the other person I didn't recognize, a green-haired lady who had been here when we arrived.

"Hello, I'm Hagiwara Yukiho," our Yukiho said sweetly, gazing curiously at her look-alike.

"No you're not! I-I'm Hagiwara Yukiho!" the other Yukiho gasped.

Their Ritsuko shook her head. "Producer, just leave those bags in the kitchen. I'm going to see if I can figure out what's going on." She started off towards a computer. I exchanged a glance with the other me.

"On the bright side," she began, "at least there aren't two Makotos."

I groaned. "That would be a _nightmare_."

"I totally agree!" she gasped. "Nihihi! One weird little thing running around is hard enough, but two of them? And we already have to put up with two Ritsukos and two…what did you call Haruka again?"

"Baka Ribbon," I answered.

"Right! Two Baka Ribbons," the other me finished. "Let's solve this right away. You may call me Iori-chan."

"I'll be…Minase? Or maybe just plain old Iori," I offered.

Iori-chan nodded. "Producer, from now on I am known as Iori-chan. If you want the other me, just call Minase-chan." She glanced at me. "Sound good?"

I nodded.

"Then Iori-chan and Minase-chan it is."


	2. Chapter 2

iDOAzu's POV

It seemed everyone had found cute little doppelgangers of themselves. It had been decided that our world's Haruka would go by Haruka, and the other Haruka was Penguin-chan. I thought it was cute.

Our Iori would go by Iori-chan, and the other Iori was Minase-chan.

The Yukiho I knew was now Yukipyon, and the other was Yukiho-chan.

And our Ritsuko would be known affectionately as Demon General, while the other was just plain Ritsuko.

They were all adorable, like having twins. Ami-chan and Mami-chan were thrilled with their new playmates. It was rather easy to pick out differences in personality, however. Demon General was rather strict, while Ritsuko seemed more relaxed. Minase-chan was a bit more gruff then Iori-chan. And Yukipyon was still Yukipyon, although Yukiho-chan was much braver.

Briefly, I wondered if I would ever get a twin. On one side of me on the couch was Makoto-chan, who also hadn't gotten a doppelganger, and on the other side was Chihaya-chan. She hadn't found one either. Hibiki-chan, Takane-chan, and Miki-chan were across from us.

"I wanna twin too," Hibiki-chan muttered, gazing longingly at the playing twins.

"Me too, but don't they all look cute?" I agreed, giggling.

"Exactly! That's why I want 'em!" Hibiki-chan wailed.

"None of us have found ours yet," Chihaya-chan commented. I nodded.

"Then they should hurry an' show up," Hibiki-chan said.

I wondered where they had come from. Why were they here? That was when the whirring noise started.

"Who's there?" Makoto-chan and Hibiki-chan yelled, both of them immediately glancing in the direction of the noise. A large, swirling mass of nothing had appeared on the walls.

"It's It!" Minase-chan gasped.

"What a lovely decoration," Takane-chan murmured.

"Miki doesn't think it's a decoration, Takane," Miki sighed. "Is it going to spit out Miki's twin?"

"Who knows?" I giggled. "Perhaps it will."

XenoAzu's POV

It didn't make any sense to either of us.

We were dead. It seemed that she knew that. I knew that. We both knew that.

And yet here we were, flying through this mass of…whatever it was. I glanced at her; my sister, Kisaragi Chihaya, who said nothing, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Imber…is that you?" I heard her whisper faintly. "Imber, are you calling me? I'm coming…"

I wondered if wherever we were going really did contain all the iDOLs. And if it contained the iDOLs, would it contain the people?

Haruka. Iori. Yukiho. Joseph and the rest.

Makoto.

I wasn't sure if leaving her had been the right decision. But I think both of us had known it was my duty to get rid of Mother. Now I was gone for good, or so I had thought. Traveling around in this mass, it was hard to tell. That was when I saw the end—a bright, cheery-looking place. It was foggy through the screen of distorted space, but I saw happy, smiling faces—and I saw Iori, Haruka, Yukiho, and Ritsuko.

Two of them.

iDOAzu's POV

The swirling mass heaved and spit out two blue-haired young ladies. One of them looked just like Chihaya-chan, and the other?

The other looked just like me.

I stood, slowly, and began to cross the room to them. The woman who looked like me sat up and rubbed her head.

"Am I alive…?" she asked. I giggled and held out my hand to help her up.

"I think so," I answered. "Hello there, I'm Miura Azusa."

The woman took my hand and I helped her to her feet. She cocked her head. "But, I'm Miura Azusa…"

"Oh my…that's a little confusing!" I exclaimed. "Oh…but that means, I have a twin too!"

The other Azusa looked around at the other people around her. She seemed to spot the twin Yukihos, the twin Ioris, and the twin Harukas first. Then she found the twin Ritsukos, busy at the computer.

"A twin…? What happened here?"

"None of us are sure," I admitted. That was when the other Chihaya-chan sat up and stood. Yukiho-chan rushed to her side.

"Chihaya-san! Chihaya-san, are you OK? What are you doing here?" she gasped.

The Chihaya-chan that I knew walked up to her. "I am Kisaragi Chihaya. Are you Kisaragi Chihaya as well?"

The other Chihaya nodded slowly. "That's my name." She looked around. "Where's Imber? Imber?"

"Chihaya-chan…w-welcome!" Penguin-chan squeaked. "Um…well, you see, Imber is gone…he was absorbed by Auryn."

"What?!" the other Chihaya cried. "You let my Imber get absorbed by Auryn?!"

"We didn't have a choice!" Minase-chan yelled. I placed my face in my hand.

"Oh, boy…" I murmured. "Azusa-chan, come have a seat, and we'll figure all of this out. Leave to Ritsuko and Demon General!"

My other self followed me to the couch. I let her sit where I had once been, next to Makoto-chan and across from Miki-chan, Takane-chan, and Hibiki-chan. The other me glance over at Makoto-chan and gasped. I settled beside her.

XenoAzu's POV

"Makoto?" I gasped. There was no mistaking it; although her hair was longer, and her eyes a different color, she had Makoto's face. And when I spoke her name, she acknowledged me. "That's really you, right?"

"Well, it is if you're looking for Kikuchi Makoto," she answered. "If it's a different Makoto you're thinking of, then no. Welcome to…here!"

"You look a little different," I murmured. "Did you grow your hair out? Get color contacts or surgery or something?"

"What? I haven't touched my eyes since birth."

"You must be looking for the other Kikuchi Makoto-chan," the other Azusa commented. "This one has been living like this in our world for quite a while now!"

I forced myself to smile and leaned back against the couch. "Right…that must be it." My Makoto was probably trapped in the other world still, or worse.

Dead.

"Are you OK, Azusa-san?" the other Makoto asked me. I smiled at her; she looked concerned.

"I'm fine, thank you. Granted, I am confused, but fine."

"To avoid confusion, we will all need nicknames!" the other Azusa announced. "Here, other self, I will fill you in. Your world's Iori is called Minase-chan, your Haruka is called Penguin-chan, your Ritsuko is Ritsuko still so you don't have to worry about anything. And your Yukiho is Yukiho-chan. From now on, you may call me Miura-san. And you will be Azusa-san, OK?"

I nodded. Azusa-san was fine. It was a name I was used to.

"Our Iori is Iori-chan, our Yukiho is Yukipyon, our Ritsuko is Demon General, and our Haruka is Haruka-chan."

I nodded again to show I understood.

"The other Chihaya will be…um…" Miura-san placed a finger on her lip. "Chihaya-chan, you decide."

"It doesn't matter to me," their Kisaragi Chihaya insisted.

"Then, our Chihaya will be…Uta-chan. And your Chihaya will be Chihaya-chan!"

Their Chihaya gave a slight nod. "I suppose that could work…"

Miura-san applauded herself for her good work. "Then, now we just have to figure out how to bring everyone back!"

"Azusa-san," the other Makoto began, "if there's a Kikuchi Makoto in your world, does that mean I get a twin?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. _Her personality has changed too. I think it's cute._

"Hey! Hey Azusa-san! Is there a Ganaha Hibiki in your world by any chance?" asked a girl I didn't recognize. She was on her knees, staring eagerly at me, with black hair pulled into a high ponytail. I scrunched my eyes at her, examining her, but at last I shook my head.

"No, I don't remember any Ganaha Hibikis," I said apologetically.

"But there's a Hoshii Miki, right? No world is complete without a Hoshii Miki," another girl stated. She was blonde, with bright green eyes. I shook my head.

"No Hoshii Mikis either. I'm sorry."

The girl called Miki gasped in alarm. "No Miki?! No wonder you all came here." She giggled. "Honey, don't you think so?"

A tall man I didn't recognize looked over at her from his place by the computer with the two Ritsukos. "What? Oh, sure. Anyways…"

Miki smiled, obviously pleased. "If Honey says it's true, then it must be true. Isn't Miki smart?"

"Of course."

"Miki knows."

I smiled at her. "I can't help but wonder what we will call the others, and when they'll arrive…"

"Ami and Mami have already decided our new names," Ami declared. "But Ami isn't going to tell you what they are, because they're a secret."

"I like secrets…" a silver-haired girl commented.

Miura-san smiled beside me. "In any case, I think I'll like living with you, Azusa-san. You seem like such a pleasant woman."

"Thank you," I said gratefully. "So then, I will be moving in with you?"

"You don't have anywhere else to go, do you?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Then each twin will move in with their twin of this world. Does that sound like a plan?"


	3. Chapter 3

DoppelHibi's POV

How long were we gonna stand here getting soaking wet before someone bothered to pick us up? Me, Miki, and Takane had been wandering around forever. And now it was raining. Not that I in particular minded, it was Miki who was driving us nuts.

She was the first one to spot the building. It looked like some sort of talent agency. Takane was the one who suggested we go inside, so we did.

"What luck, that Miki managed to find this place," Miki said triumphantly. I yawned.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted. Hopefully they'll let us sleep here."

"I agree," Takane commented. "But perhaps taking in three strangers will be too daunting of a task, and they will have to turn us away."

"Shirai Takane, ya think too much. How could they turn down such perfect little angels?" I laughed. "Now c'mon, someone knock."

Miki rapped lightly on the door. "Miki and the rest are here! Open the door!"

There were moments of silence. Then the door flung open and a girl who looked just like our Miki was standing there, looking exuberant. I pushed past her, just desperate to get inside, and spotted a girl who looked just like me sitting next to a girl that looked like Takane.

"Copy-cat!" I screeched, pointing her out.

"You're the copy-cat!" she retaliated. "Wait a second, did I just find my twin? An' ya said there were no Ganaha Hibikis in your world!"

"There aren't," a blue-haired woman said. She was sitting across from my look-alike.

"What?" I cocked my head. "I'm _Goya _Hibiki. Who's Ganaha Hibiki?"

"I'm Ganaha Hibiki," my look-alike answered.

"That's weird. Ya look like me."

"Ya talk like me!"

"Well, I am Okinawan…"

"What the heck, yo?! _I'm _Okinawan!"

I gasped. "So…you're my clone?"

"Let's go with 'twin'," Ganaha Hibiki suggested. "Now, let's do this right. I'm Ganaha Hibiki! An' ya are?"

"Goya Hibiki. An' that's Shirai Takane and Hora Miki."

"I am Shijou Takane," the Takane look-alike informed me. "And that is Hoshii Miki."

I glanced over at the Miki twin, chatting away excitedly with her other self. "How 'bout ya call me Goya, an' you'll be Ganaha?"

"I'll be Ganaha an' ya be Hibiki," the other me suggested.

I nodded. "An' Takane'll be Takane, an' your Takane is Shijou."

"My Miki's Hoshii an' yours is Miki."

"Done!" we both exclaimed at once.

iDOHibi's POV

I couldn't believe it. I'd found my twin. It was exciting and all, but to be honest, it was really weird. The fact that there were real people out there who looked just like us was kinda interesting. I looked at her. "Hobbies," I demanded. "Pronto."

"Knitting for sure!" Hibiki gushed. "I love it. An' I love animals…"

"I love animals too!" I laughed. "This is too weird but way fun."

"I want one," Makoto pouted from across the couch. Azusa-san smiled at her.

"Well, as long as my world's Makoto finds her way here, you should get your twin," she promised.

"It's taking her too long!" Makoto cried. "Get out here already, dang it!"

"You're just jealous ya don't have a twin," I stated proudly.

"Really now."

"Yup."

Hibiki stood. "I'm hungry. Ganaha, do ya know how to make Okinawan food?"

"Of course," I scoffed, standing.

"I can't cook," Hibiki admitted.

"I'll teach ya or somethin'. C'mon."

She followed me into the kitchen. "I really want bean buns…"

"I can try to cook bean buns."

"Or I want some Okinawan soba."

I nodded. "That I can do for sure. Ya just sit back an' relax, an' I'll handle all the cookin'," I promised. Hibiki sat down and I got to work.

_Too weird…but way fun._


	4. Chapter 4

iDOYayoi's POV

"Ami-chan, Mami-chan, what if we don't have twins?" I asked the twins. Everyone was excitedly playing with their twins and they seemed to be having a really fun time, but Ami-chan, Mami-chan, Makoto-chan, and me didn't have a twin. Makoto-chan had already been promised a twin, but I didn't know if I even had one. I decided to ask the Haruka-chan of their world, called Penguin-chan.

"Penguin-chan?"

She looked over at me. "Yeah, Yayoi-chan?"

"Is there a Takatsuki Yayoi in your world?"

Penguin-chan nodded. "Yup! And she's my best friend, as a matter of fact," she answered. I beamed.

"Un un! That's great, so I'll get a twin?" I wondered aloud.

She nodded again. "As long as our Yayoi-chan finds her way here…"

"Penguin-chan, high touch!" I held my hand up to her. She giggled and gave me a high touch like I'd asked. I decided I liked Penguin-chan.

Of course, since she was a Haruka-chan, it was kind of expected, but some of the twins, like Yukipyon's, weren't really anything like them at all. Azusa-san and Chihaya-chan were somewhat different from Miura-san and Uta-chan too. Then I came up with another question for Penguin-chan.

"Penguin-chan, what is your Takatsuki Yayoi like?"

"She's spunky, energetic, and always so full of life," Penguin-chan explained. "She really is like you."

"Yay! That means my twin and I will be able to relate!" I squeaked. "Un un, now I'm really excited…"

Penguin-chan laughed. "Let's just hope she finds her way here…"

XenoYayoi's POV

"How do you think Mami is managing on her own?"

I looked down at Ami Futami, who had been forced to leave her twin sister at home while she and I advertised for her concert. I shrugged.

"If I know that kid, she's probably eating you out of house and home right now," I laughed.

Ami smiled slightly. "I suppose you're right. Mami is probably fine."

"Plus, you hired a babysitter."

"But can Makoto-san really be trusted to watch over Mami without locking her in a room for hours?" Ami blurted. I laughed again.

"I don't know Makoto very well. I only met her once," I admitted. "But I really don't think she'll lock your twin sister in a room."

The noise was quiet at first, but the closer we got to it the louder it got. Ami was the one who spotted the…whatever it was.

"Is it a…portal, perhaps? A portal of some sort, leading somewhere new?" Ami questioned.

"I have no idea. Let's call it a Something," I suggested. "If said Something is in fact a portal…what do you say would happen if I flung my star-suited self through it?"

"We would most likely travel to a new world," Ami declared.

I stood, staring down at the swirling mass. "In that case…HERE I COME, NEW WORLD!" I screamed, flinging myself into the Something and laughing wildly.

"W-wait, Yayoi-san! I'm coming too!"

iDOYayoi's POV

The portal thingy was still there. Or at least, Demon General and Ritsuko had called it a portal. I was staring at it now, and I had been for probably ten minutes. But even though I had now been promised a twin by Penguin-chan, and promised that she was a lot like me, I saw no trace of an energetic girl who looked like me in the shimmering portal.

Then I saw them. There were two girls, and one of them was wearing a large star-shaped costume. The other looked kinda like Ami-chan. They tumbled out of the portal and landed on the floor, the Ami-chan look-alike positioned on top of the star-costume girl. I saw Kotori-chan take a picture.

"Ow…" the Ami-chan girl muttered, rolling off of the other girl. "Yayoi-san, maybe this was a bad idea…"

_Yayoi-san? _"Are you the other Takatsuki Yayoi?" I asked her.

The girl in the star costume stood and brushed herself off. She was a little taller then I had expected. "Yup, I'm Takatsuki Yayoi! What did you mean by 'the other one'?"

"I mean that I'm Takatsuki Yayoi too!" I yelped. "So are you my twin?"

"I guess so," Other Yayoi gasped. "Wow, you look like, just like me! Although, you seem a little younger…"

"I was just thinking you look a little older…" I told her. "Then, I'll be Yayoi, and you can be…"

"Can I be Star-chan?!" Other Yayoi begged. "Because then you can make a reference to this cosplay, and you can call me a superstar at the same time! At once!"

"'At the same time' and 'at once' mean the same thing, stupid cosplay actor," Minase-chan grumbled.

"She's here? Why is she here?" Star-chan asked.

"She came through a portal like you," I explained. "Is that Ami-chan's twin, or Mami-chan's?"

The Ami/Mami girl had already engaged in conversation with the twins. "I'm the Futami Ami of that world," she said politely. "You can call me Futami."

"And Ami is gonna be The Great Sexy Beautiful One!" the Ami of our world announced.

"For short, you can call Ami Sexy-chan," Mami declared.

"Or Great-chan," Ami added. "And when Mami's twin shows up, Mami's twin will be Mami and Mami will be The Great Sexy Amazing One, or Amazing-chan."

I laughed. "OK, so my Ami is Sexy-chan and your Ami is Futami, right?" I concluded.

Star-chan shrugged. "I guess. And I'm Star-chan, and you're Yayoi."

I nodded. "Where is Mami-chan—I mean, Amazing-chan—'s twin anyways?"

Futami looked at me. "She's with our world's Makoto."


	5. Chapter 5

XenoMako's POV

Half an hour.

It only took half an hour for Futami Mami to start annoying me. I think that was a new record.

She was practically bouncing off the walls, and I had no idea how to get her to stop. Finally, I decided to just get her out of the house. "We'll go for a walk. Will that calm you down?"

She stopped. "Are we walking where Ami and Yayoi-chan are?" she gasped. I shrugged.

"I don't care, let's just get out of here before you break something," I muttered. To her credit, she didn't argue. She just slipped on a pair of shoes and joined me by the front door.

"I hope Ami doesn't get mad that we're leaving the house unattended," she admitted.

"Just lock the door."

"But if a big, strong burglar guy comes along, won't he be able to break down the door? And if he can't he'll get in through the windows. Even if that doesn't work…"

I grunted in annoyance. She didn't get the hint.

"…he can still use a sledgehammer and get in by breaking down the walls. Don't you think?"

"Change of plans," I said quickly. "You stay here, and I'll go for a walk alone."

"W-wait! You can't just leave me here!" Mami protested. "Ami will be mad, and besides, I'm only 12. What kind of babysitter would you be if you left a twelve year old girl alone in a house?"

I shrugged and opened the door.

"I'm coming," Mami announced. "I promise I'll be quiet…"

We stared at each other for a while. Eventually, I just sighed and gave in. "Fine."

"Yay! Oh…quiet, I have to be quiet! Right…" Mami whispered to herself. She nodded to show me she was ready to go. A bit reluctantly, I have to admit, I led her out of the house.

At least I didn't lock her in a room.

iDOMako's POV

"OK, so even if the official Mami twin isn't here yet, the Futami twins get Ami's twin to goof off with for now, and that leaves me THE ONLY ONE without a twin," I complained to Azusa-san. Even though everyone else was doing something with their twin, she hadn't left my side.

She smiled at me. "Don't worry, I'm sure she's coming," she said soothingly. It didn't help much.

"Well, she certainly takes her sweet time, doesn't she?" I muttered.

Azusa-san chuckled. "I suppose. That child is always doing things her own way, after all."

"She sounds like a sweet girl," Miura-san chimed.

"Sweet isn't really the right word," Azusa-san admitted.

I moaned. "Look, the portal is still on our wall which obviously means it's in your world somewhere. So why haven't they found it?"

"The last time I checked, there was no portal in my house," Futami called. "They should be there. I'm guessing that Makoto-san and Mami won't find us until morning."

"Before you guys arrived, there was no portal on the wall," I added, shrugging. "They just kinda appear places. I'm sure it found them. So why aren't they here yet? I'm lonely…"

Miura-san giggled. "Don't worry, Makoto-chan. I'm sure…"

She stopped, turning her attention towards the portal. The whirring noise had gotten slightly louder.

XenoMako's POV

"This thing is weird!" Mami gasped. I had to admit she was right. I had no idea what this mass of energy was, but it obviously wasn't normal. And it hadn't been on the Futami's driveway the last time I checked.

"Are we gonna go in it?" Mami gasped. I stared at it.

"I don't even know what it is."

"I think it's a magical portal thingy that'll take us to another planet. You think it'd take us to Tempestas?"

_If that thing can take us to the iDOLs, there's a possibility it can take me to Onee-chan…isn't there? _I thought to myself. I didn't think there was any way a giant swirling mass could take us to the destroyed iDOLs, never mind to a dead woman. But if there was any possibility at all, it was worth the risk in my opinion. I nodded at Mami, who was gazing expectantly at me, obviously waiting for my permission.

She beamed and jumped to her feet. "Are you going to come too?"

"Why not."

"Yay! OK…wait until I've told Ami I…" She stopped talking. "Oh no, Ami! I-I can't just leave her!"

"Maybe she's already there," I suggested, suddenly very desperate to investigate this thing. "Now hurry. It might close."

Mami nodded and tentatively took hold of my hand. I frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Just in case," Mami said quietly. "Um…I really don't want to get lost, because if I do I might never find Ami. And you're my babysitter tonight, so…"

I sighed. "Just jump in."

iDOMako's POV

"Hurry up…hurry up…c'mon man, I'm waiting for you!" I cried to the still-empty portal in front of us. "Don't you know it's rude to keep a girl waiting?!"

"Nihihi! Not even _you_ like you, Makoto," I heard Iori sneer.

"She's coming, Iori," I snapped. "She's just taking her time."

"It's Iori-_chan_!"

"Why the heck would I put a –chan on the end of your name? I don't like you."

"Well, I don't like you either!"

"Makoto-chan!" Miura-san gasped. "Look!"

I snapped my head back towards the portal. Two human-looking shapes had appeared in the mass of energy. I grinned. "Almost, bro. You're almost here, self. Come on…"

The portal spit out two some-what familiar-looking people; one who looked a lot like Ami's twin—I assumed it was the other Mami—and the other one looked like me. I jumped up.

"Finally! It sure took you long enough!" I pouted, rushing to—er, my—side. "You need help standing, or anything…"

"I'm fine." My twin slowly rose to her feet and immediately started looking around the room.

Great.

Even my own self was now ignoring me.

"Um, hey…" I waved my hand in front of her face. "Are you paying attention to me at all? You know, like, the fact that we look almost identical…besides that fact that your hair is shorter, and your eyes are blue…hey…!"

She grunted and walked right past me.

Suddenly, I didn't seem so appealing.

Mami's twin, on the other hand, ran straight to Ami's twin to announce her arrival.

"Hey Ami, guess what? Me and Makoto went on a walk, and we found this thingy in the driveway, so we jumped into it and now look! I'm here! And I'm so glad you're here too. Hey, these people look like us…"

Futami smiled. "Mami, from now on you will be called…Mami-chan. This is Futami Ami and Futami Mami."

"But we're Futami Ami and Mami…"

"Yes, but this is Futami Ami and Mami also."

"Ami, you're confusing me!"

I decided to see what my twin was up to and maybe even decide on a name for her. I saw her sitting with Azusa-san, leaning against her shoulder, her eyes shining, and Azusa-san was hugging her gently. Suddenly I realized why she'd ignored me.

My twin and Azusa-san had to have been really, really close. My twin had probably been looking for her. I sat down between Azusa-san and Miura-san. Azusa-san smiled at me, and then turned to her Makoto.

"Kikuchi Makoto, I'd like you to meet Kikuchi Makoto," she introduced. My twin glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You see, everyone has a doppelganger from this world here, it seems," Azusa-san explained. "There's mine." She gestured to Miura-san.

Her Makoto looked over at Miura-san, then rested her gaze on me. "Nice to meet you…" she said.

I nodded. "You too…self." I coughed. _Talk about awkward situations._

"You two need nicknames!" Miura-san laughed. "Let me help you, Other Makoto-chan. I'm going to be called Miura-san, and your Azusa is-"

"Onee-chan," my twin interrupted. "Continue."

_So that's it. They're like sisters._

"Oh…well, the rest of us will call her Azusa-san. The Yayoi-chan from our world is Yayoi, and from your world she's Star-chan. Our Chihaya-chan is Uta-chan, and yours is Chihaya-chan. Our Iori-chan is Iori-chan, and yours is Minase-chan. And…our Ami-chan! Our Ami-chan is The Great Sexy Beautiful One, but we'll call her Sexy-chan or Great-chan. Your Ami-chan is Futami. Our Mami-chan is The Great Sexy Amazing One, or Amazing-chan, and yours is Mami." Miura-san paused. "Are you getting all this?"

My twin nodded.

"OK, then that leaves…Haruka-chan from this world, who is Haruka, and Haruka-chan from your world—Penguin-chan. Your Ritsuko-chan is Ritsuko, and ours is Demon General. And lastly, your Yukiho-chan is Yukiho, and ours is Yukipyon."

"You forgot Ganaha and Hibiki," I reminded her. "That's those two. And over there is Shijou, and Takane, and Hoshii and Miki."

My twin nodded again and then leaned back against Azusa-san's shoulder.

"So now we need names, so no one calls 'Makoto' and gets two responses. That'd be confusing." I turned to Miura-san. "Can I be…Super Kawai Adorable Sexy Girl?"

"No, that doesn't suit you at all, Makoto-chan." I wondered how she managed to say that while smiling unless she really hated me.

"Fine. I can just be Kikuchi, and you can be Makoto."

"Or you can be Prince, and she can be Makoto…"

"I-I don't wanna be a Prince!"

"One of you should be Gonzales," Uta-chan suggested.

"NO."

Iori groaned. "So now there are two annoying little freaks," she muttered. My twin-I decided to just call her Makoto for now-shot her a glare.

"Could you repeat that?" she asked, almost in mock politeness.

Iori's eyes widened a bit and she took a step back. "Well…there's one annoying little freak, at least."

"Hey…!"

"Miki has an idea!" Hoshii squeaked. "Miki thinks our world's Makoto-kun should be Makoto-kun, and the other Makoto-kun should be Other Makoto-kun."

Miura-san giggled. "That's still confusing, Hoshii-chan. How would we remember which is which? How about AoMako, and MuraMako, after their differences in eye color?"

"That works for me," I said, shrugging.

"Then AoMako and MuraMako it is."

"Miura-san, you're good at this..."


	6. Chapter 6

iDOHaru's POV

I couldn't believe I'd found Penguin-chan. She was a lot like me, really…we were both optimistic and yet vulnerable, energetic yet calm. I was a lot more clumsy then Penguin-chan though. Actually, she told me she'd only ever really taken a hard fall once or twice in her life!

I really wanted to do something with her—something memorable, and get to know this other Amami Haruka at the same time. In the end I settled on bowling.

"Penguin-chan, do you have anything to do today?" I asked her. She looked over at me. That was when I first noticed that her eyes were green. "Penguin-chan, I didn't know your eyes were green!"

"Yep! So actually, we could have been AoHaru and MidoHaru," she suggested, laughing.

I nodded. "That's true, we could have been. But, then we wouldn't have been as unique, and we would have made the Makoto-chans lose their uniqueness too," I reminded her.

"True," Penguin-chan agreed. "Oh…you were asking me if I was free! I'm not doing anything else, so whatever it is you have planned…"

"Wanna go bowling?" I questioned excitedly.

Penguin-chan smiled at me. "OK, that sounds fun! But Haruka-chan…wouldn't you be bad at bowling?"

"No, where I go the bowling shoes are really grippy so I don't slip as easily," I promised.

Penguin-chan nodded. "If you're sure, then I'd love to go with you. Just tell me where to go!"

XenoHaru's POV

The man that Haruka-chan called Producer-san drove us to the bowling alley. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd gone bowling, but since Haruka-chan seemed so excited, I didn't want to squash her enthusiasm by telling her I'd forgotten how to play. When we walked in, everyone instantly recognized her.

"Hey, it's Haruka-chan!" the man at the desk called. Haruka-chan waved to him. I felt a little out-of-place, and also a little confused that no one seemed to notice that I looked exactly like the Amami Haruka of their world—minus the eyes.

Then someone pointed it out. "Haruka-chan, I didn't know you had a twin sister."

Haruka-chan looked a little startled at first, but then I guess she decided to go along with it. It would certainly be a lot simpler then telling everyone that I was from another world!

"Ah…yes! This is Amami Haru…Haru. Amami Haru-chan!" Haruka explained. "She's my twin sister from…"

"Tokyo," I finished. "I'm from Tokyo…"

"But if you're sisters why aren't you living together?" the same person asked.

Thinking quickly, Haruka-chan said, "Divorce! Um, my parents got…a divorce…?"

For thinking on her feet, it was an impressive answer, although I wondered if these people would believe it. _Do any of them know her parents? That would be bad._

"That's a real shame," the person said sympathetically. "But you seem so optimistic as usual, Haruka-chan. Haru-chan, welcome to Bowl Japan!"

"Thank you!" I exclaimed. "Haruka-chan, let's get started, OK?"

Haruka-chan led me to the place where we would get those special grippy shoes. We told the man at the desk our sizes, and he handed us the shoes we needed. Then Haruka-chan led me to an empty lane.

iDOHaru's POV

After Penguin-chan and I got our shoes, I took her to an empty lane and began to change shoes. I couldn't believe I'd just made up such a huge lie on the spot! If any of these people ever talked to my grandfather about my parents' "divorce", I was going to be in trouble.

"Um, Haruka-chan?" I heard Penguin-chan ask. "After I put on my shoes, what should I do?"

"Well, then you find a bowling ball! Make sure it isn't too heavy…Penguin-chan, have you ever been bowling before?" I asked suddenly. Any experienced player—even one who'd only played one game—would remember to get a ball after you put on your shoes.

"Once or twice, I think, when I was really young," Penguin-chan admitted. "I don't really remember…"

"It's easy," I insisted. "I'll teach you. First, just find a ball that weighs the right amount for you."

I watched her go straight for a pink swirled ball and turn it over slowly. Then she lifted it, turned it around in her hands, and lifted it up and down before putting it down and going towards a different pink ball.

I went straight for a pale red ball with a number "8" written on it in white. The eight-pound balls seemed to work best for me—not too heavy, but not too light either—and the red ones were my favorite color. Penguin-chan managed to find a pink ball with a number "7" and brought it over to me.

"Now what?"

"Fit your fingers into these holes," I instructed, giving her a demonstration. "Like this, see? Your index finger and middle finger go in these ones, and your thumb goes in this bigger one. Make sure there's enough room so that your fingers don't get stuck."

Penguin-chan nodded and slid her fingers into the holes as ordered. I watched her slide them in and out a couple of times before she nodded again. "Yosh…! They fit perfectly. Let's go!"

I giggled at her enthusiasm. "Yay…! Now, come right this way, OK? Watch me. You draw the ball back, but not too far back…about to your mid-back, I'll say. Then, you aim. Make sure you're about in the middle of the lane, and bowl in a straight line. You just swing the ball down…get down low so you don't drop it too hard, see? And then you release right as you reach the full extension of your arm…and the ball goes down the lane and into the pins!"

I watched as my little red bowling ball knocked straight into the middle of the pins, but the result left the two on the ends still standing. I had a split. I looked at Penguin-chan, who was watching me eagerly, and laughed nervously.

"You see, Penguin-chan, that is what you _don't _want to happen." I laughed again. "Now I have a choice to make. Should I hit the right one, or the left one?"

"Left," Penguin-chan suggested. Taking her advice, I lifted my ball again and bowled towards the pin on the left—pin number 7. When my ball hit the pin, it hit it at such an angle that the pin rolled out and caught the other one with its neck. For a moment pin 10 wobbled, and I grinned excitedly.

_Maybe Penguin-chan knew the left pin would swing out at that angle. She's good._

But after wobbling for a few seconds, the pin settled back into place.

"Well, I almost got a spare…" I said to Penguin-chan. "Did you get that? Now you try."

She nodded to me and retrieved her pink ball. I watched her copy the movements I'd made earlier, and when she released the ball it rolled a little too far to the left and knocked over the left side of pins, leaving three or four still standing. She looked to me for help.

XenoHaru's POV

"What do I do now?" I asked Haruka-chan. "Should I move a little and aim towards the right?"

Haruka-chan nodded. "Yup, that's exactly what you should do!" she cheered. I nodded and did as instructed. The ball crashed into the pins and somehow, I managed to knock all of them down. I beamed and looked over at Haruka-chan.

"Did I win?" I asked. A determined smile crossed her face.

"Not yet you didn't," she said, lifting her ball. "Yosh…! Here we go!"

For the rest of the day and into the night, the two of us talked and hung out and played bowling. Haruka-chan won the first two games, but in the third one I managed to pull out a win and we got some pizza to celebrate.

And I learned even more about my other-worldly twin, Amami Haruka-chan.


	7. Chapter 7

XenoChiha's POV

He wasn't here.

No matter how long and how hard I searched, he wasn't here.

I suppose that child called Haruka was right; Imber was gone. But life in this world turned out to be a little better then I had first expected—although the girl they called Uta-chan irked me.

She was so focused…so focused on singing, and she didn't even care that my world was so broken without my Imber. And yet…she spoke kindly to me if at all, this other Kisaragi Chihaya. I wasn't sure whether to like her or not.

It was late when we had our deepest conversation. I had moved in with her, and since she lived by herself, we were alone.

"What is it you treasure the most?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "It was Imber…it still is Imber. But he's gone. That child sealed him into Auryn."

Uta-san looked at me with a questioning gleam in her eyes. "Imber…and Auryn…? I don't understand," she admitted. I sighed.

"I don't expect you to," I murmured. "You've never loved a thing as much as I loved him, I'll bet."

"Don't say that like you know me," Uta-san ordered. "I love to sing…it is my life! And Haruka is very precious to me as well. She's a very good friend…"

I chuckled. "Dedication to your songs or to your best friend is nothing like my devotion to Imber." I paused. "Although, having Yukiho around…she's always so good to me."

"You mean your Yukiho-san, right? Not our Yuki…pyon?"

"Yes." I paused again and just stared at her for a while. She really did look like me. It was actually a little unnerving.

"She seems very kind," Uta-san commented.

"She is," I muttered. "Always…always doing things for me. She's always caring for me."

"Then why don't you care for her?" Uta-san asked. I blinked.

"So you noticed." I chuckled. "I suppose…I'm just a little too shaken. He rejected me completely even after everything I did for him, after all."

"Imber, you mean," Uta-san clarified. "But to me, that does not seem like a good way to treat a friend."

_Friend? _To be honest, I had never really thought of Yukiho like a friend. Perhaps she had always been more of a slave to me; someone who did what I said without question, who was always looking out for me. But it was true in its own way—Yukiho was a very close friend, and I certainly hadn't been paying much attention to her.  
"I guess that's true," I sighed. "You seem to be quite the arrogant type; speaking about Yukiho as if you know what she is to me. You don't know a thing about me, you know that?"

"And you know nothing of me," Uta-san stated calmly. "You know nothing of my life before becoming an idol, or about my family and friends, and certainly not of my love for music."

"And you know nothing of my adoration of Imber, or of the pain I felt when he rejected me, or of my relationship with Yukiho…with Mother…or with Azusa."

Uta-san cocked her head. "Your Azusa?"

"She's my adopted sister."

"Ah."

We just stared at each other for a while. Then Uta-san asked me something else.

"Who is Imber?"

"He…was…my iDOL," I explained.

"Was…before Auryn," Uta-san finished. I nodded. "What's an idol? Is it the same kind of idol we know?"

"No. My iDOL was an iDOL. How should I explain it…? It's a large, silicon core surrounded by a metal frame. The core stores its memories, its personality, so to speak. And the frame just provides a cover and the ability to fight," I told her.

"So in short, an idol in your world is like a robot in ours," she assumed.

After a moment, I nodded. "But it's more then that. They have personalities. They have feelings," I promised.

She shrugged. "I don't doubt that."

"…Uta-san?" I whispered. She looked at me. "Um…thanks. I guess. For listening."

She smiled slightly. "It wasn't a problem…Chihaya-san." Slowly, she crawled into her makeshift bed on the floor—she'd given the real bed to me—and curled into a sleeping position. As I was used to, I began to pull the clothes from my body, and when I was completely naked, I crawled into the bed and slowly drifted into sleep.

iDOChiha's POV

It was early morning when I woke up. Chihaya-san was still sleeping. I wandered downstairs and chose a meal for the two of us, one that would be easy to just heat up in a microwave and eat. I didn't want her first meal after deciding she liked me to be badly cooked. After settling on something and placing it in my microwave, I sat down at the table and waited. Chihaya-san walked down the stairs slowly and sat across from me.

"Good morning," I greeted her. She looked up at me and cracked a small smile.

"We're having Okinawan soba, if that's OK with you," I said. "It's leftovers from Ganaha-san."

"Fine with me," she muttered. "I don't care."

"I'm glad. I wouldn't want your first meal here to be your least favorite food or something."

"I don't have a least favorite food, or a favorite. I eat what I eat when I eat."

"Ah."

We sat in silence until the microwave beeped to tell me the food was done. I popped it open and took the now-heated soba out of it, then placed it on the table.

"Dig in," I invited Chihaya-san. She grabbed a fork from the counter (I had put two there in advance) and began to eat.

"It's good," she admitted. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." I paused. "Oh yes, and…Chihaya-san?"

She looked up at me.

"Please put some clothes on."


	8. Chapter 8

iDOAmi's POV

It was so much fun having twins!

Together now, Mami-chan, Futami, and Amazing-chan and I were like quadrants*! It's really cool. We taught them all of our favorite games, Amazing-chan and I, and they told us stories about this giant robot they used to have. It sounded really cool.

"Hey hey, The Great Sexy Beautiful One has an announcement!" I cried to them one day. "Sexy-chan thinks we should go gather some teammates, and play a huge group game, like…a water balloon fight, since it's so hot."

"That sounds awesome!" Amazing-chan gasped. "Mami-chan, Futami, what do you think?"

"I think I wanna start picking teammates now," Mami-chan said.

"I suppose that would be fun," Futami murmured.

"Alrighty-tighty! Then Sexy-chan's gonna assemble everyone, and tell them our plan. HEY GUYS! COME LISTEN TO GREAT-CHAN'S GREAT IDEA!"

Those who were in the agency—which, today, was everyone—shuffled towards the middle of the room to listen to my idea. When I saw everyone there, I decided to tell them.

"So, we're gonna have a water balloon fight. It's gonna be fun. And you people are gonna be our teammates, OK?"

Some people cheered. Others groaned in annoyance.

"OK! Amazing-chan is gonna be one team caption**, and Futami will be the other!" Amazing-chan exclaimed. "Um, Amazing-chan wants Ganaha!"

Ganaha grinned excitedly and ran over to Amazing-chan. I frowned slightly.

_Why wasn't Great-chan Amazing-chan's first pick?_

"Um…I will take Mami," Futami announced. Mami bounded over to her.

"Amazing-chan wants Sexy-chan," Amazing-chan said. Grinning, I joined her.

"Great-chan kinda thought you'd pick Great-chan first," I admitted.

She shrugged. "Amazing-chan really, really wanted our Hibikin. Sorry, Sexy-chan."

Futami surveyed the room. "Minase-san."

"MuraMako!"

"Ritsuko-san…?"

"Iorin~!"

"I'll take Hibiki-san…"

"Amazing-chan wants Harurun."

"Yukiho-san."

"Yukipyon."

"AoMako?"

"Takane!"

XenoAmi's POV

I wasn't entirely sure of what was going on. All I knew was that somehow, I had been talked into being team captain for a huge, thirteen-on-thirteen water balloon fight.

My team consisted of Mami, Minase-san, Ritsuko-san, Hibiki-san, Yukiho-san, AoMako, Star-san, Azusa-san and Miura-san, Miki-san and Hoshii-san, Shijou-san, and myself.

Amazing-san's team was Ganaha-san, Great-san, MuraMako, Iori-san, Haruka-san and Penguin-san, Yukipyon, Takane-san, Chihaya-san, Demon General, Yayoi-san, Uta-san, and herself.

We had taken a very long time to prepare, filling up at least 800 balloons in advance. Each of us took one hundred balloons at first. If we needed more, we went to the stockpile and got some. If you were hit with three balloons, you were out and could no longer play. And the last team standing was the winner.

"What have we gotten ourselves into, Mami?" I whispered to my twin sister while we stood on the playing field, or the "battlefield" as Great-san and Amazing-san had called it.

"I think it's gonna be fun," Mami squeaked excitedly. "Hey hey, I think we should go for Ganaha and MuraMako first. Look at those two, they look totally pumped!"

She was right. The two girls she had mentioned were stretching together, chatting, and tossing balloons up and down. Ganaha-san in particular seemed excited, eagerly glancing from person to person on the opposite side of the field. As I watched, MuraMako said something to her and Ganaha-san responded, and they began passing the balloons back and forth to get in a bit of practice.

Obviously, water balloon fights were big deals in this world.

"Are you ready, everyone?" called a woman Great-san and Amazing-san called Piyo-san. I learned later that her name was actually Kotori-san. "Alright, so Producer-san and I will commentate, and tell you if you get out. Go ahead and grab some balloons, and get on your marks. Get set…and, go!"

Suddenly, the field was a flurry of excitement. Balloons were flung everywhere. Within minutes the first name was called.

"Haruka-chan! You're out!"

"Already?" Haruka-san whined. "Aw…"

I sighed and sidestepped out of the way of a particularly bloated balloon.

_What have we gotten ourselves into…_

* Ami means to say quadruplets.

**Mami means captain.


	9. Chapter 9

XenoMami's POV

Ami was the second person to get out. I think she did it on purpose. She obviously wasn't as excited about this water balloon fight as I was. But it didn't matter! I was sure I would lead her team to victory.

Right now Ami's team consisted of me, Minase-chan, Azusa-san, Star-chan, Miki-chan, and Ritsuko-chan.

Amazing-chan's team was Ganaha, MuraMako, Demon General, herself and Sexy-chan, Yayoi-chan, and Chihaya-chan.

I watched as Star-chan hurled a good-sized balloon right at Chihaya-chan, and it hit her square in the chest.

Kotori-chan blew a whistle. "That's your third hit, Chihaya-san! You're out!"

Chihaya-chan grumbled something and ran off the field.

_Now we're even!_

As I was thinking this and not paying attention, Ganaha threw a balloon at me and I was struck in the arm. I let out a cry of annoyance.

"Hey! I wasn't ready!" I whined. Ganaha shrugged.

"Too bad. 'Ey Makot—er, MuraMako, pass me that there green balloon, and I'm gonna chuck it over at…y'know what, I ain't gonna tell ya where I'm chuckin' it! Just chuck it over here an' I'll catch it."

"Got it. You mean this one?"

I slowly lifted a pink balloon from the ground.

"That's the one. Eh…w-wait a second, Makoto…MuraMako! Don't try to hit me with it! I said chuck it! Don't just…chuck it!"

I hurled the balloon at Ganaha and watched it fly into her shoulder. She screeched in alarm.

"What the…?!"

"And that marks your second hit, Ganaha!" Kotori-chan called. "Mami, Ganaha, Demon General, Miki-chan, and Star-chan…you guys are on your last legs! The rest of you, you have only one hit. Keep playing!"

iDOMami's POV

It was getting pretty rough out here. Since Chihaya-onee-chan got out, Demon General, Ricchan, Yayoicchi, and Miki-Miki had gotten out. That meant that on my team was Ganaha, MuraMako, me, and Sexy-chan. On Futami's team was Mami-chan, Minase-chan, Azusa-onee-chan, and Star-chan. We were even.

It was a really exciting line-up. I couldn't wait to see who was gonna win, although it was totally obvious that Sexy-chan and I were gonna dominate the playing field!

Then Star-chan got hit with a balloon. Piyo-chan blew a whittle* thingy.

"Star-chan, that's your third hit! You're out! Azusa-san, Ganaha, Sexy-chan, and MuraMako, and Mami-chan, you guys have two hits. Amazing-chan and Minase-chan, you two only have one hit. Be careful out there!"

I picked up two balloons and ran to Sexy-chan. "Sexy-chan! Team up with Amazing-chan and let's do that special thing!" I begged.

She nodded. "Alrighty-tighty! Let's do that thing, then," she agreed. Quickly, we linked arms. "Ready, and…"

All at once, Sexy-chan and I raised our arms and flung the balloons in a criss-cross direction, and then switched arms and flung our other balloons backwards.

There were three whittle* noises. "Azusa-san, you're out! Minase-chan, that's two hits for you. Oh, and Ganaha, you were hit by Minase-chan again, so you're out!"

"Ganaha, don't go!" Sexy-chan and I whimpered at the same time.

Ganaha shrugged. "Sorry, guys, looks like I letcha down. 'Ey MuraMako, help 'em bring home a victory for me, 'kay?"

MuraMako nodded and gave Ganaha a fist bump. "You got it, Ganaha. Hey The Great Sexy Beautiful one, can you pass me that orange one?"

XenoMami's POV

It was really close now, a two-on-two battle. I'd managed to knock MuraMako out of the game with a fast throw while she was distracted with Minase-chan. That meant it was Minase-chan and me versus Amazing-chan and Sexy-chan. I was excited. I would definitely get Ami's team a victory!

"You guys think you can win, don't you?" Amazing-chan taunted. "That's funny. Sexy-chan and Amazing-chan are gonna wipe the floor with you…and then wring you out and do it again and eat the leftovers!"

"What leftovers? That doesn't even make sense," Minase-chan scoffed.

Sexy-chan pegged her with a balloon. Sensing an opportunity, I threw the blue balloon in my hand at her and hit her in the head. She let out a cry.

Kotori-chan puffed on her whistle. "Minase-chan and Great-chan! You guys are out! Mami-chan and Amazing-chan, it's just the two of you now."

Sexy-chan let out an annoyed cry. Minase-chan grumbled something.

"I wasn't ready…"

"That's not fair, Mami-chan, Sexy-chan was preoccupied with Minase-chan!"

"Hey, wait a second!" MuraMako suddenly cried. Everyone turned to her.

_Did the balloon not actually hit Minase-chan? Are head shots illegal? _I wondered. _She must have seen something…_

"I just realized something…" MuraMako muttered, turning to Miura-san. "How come you let the twins be The Great Sexy Beautiful One and The Great Sexy Amazing One, but I couldn't be Super Kawai Adorable Sexy Girl?!"

Half of us face-palmed.

"Because a title like that doesn't suit you in any way at all," Miura-san said, giggling.

"Do you hate me, or something?"

"No, I'm just saying you aren't very cute, and you aren't sexy at all, and you aren't exactly a girl in every way. No offense, Makoto-chan…MuraMako."

MuraMako looked away from her. "You're so cruel, Miura-san…" she pouted. "Hey AoMako, aren't you at least the slightest bit offended too? After all, she's technically talking about you too…"

"Don't talk to me," AoMako ordered. "But if you want an answer, I don't care."

"Whatever, I guess. Go ahead and continue the battle."

"Alrighty-tighty!" Amazing-chan cheered. "Wow, that really is fun to say. Try it!"

"Alrighty-tighty…?" Minase-chan said tentatively. "Huh…it actually is kinda fun."

"See? Alrighty-tighty. Alrighty-tighty. Alrighty-LOOSEY! It's still fun!"

I slowly bent down and picked up a bloated green balloon.

"Now you people try it," Amazing-chan demanded, still speaking to the crowd. It seemed she'd forgotten that she hadn't won yet.

The rest of the people at the field started copying Amazing-chan and Sexy-chan (aside from AoMako, who was just sitting there looking bored).

"Alrighty-tighty-loosey. Alrighty-loosey-tighty. Alrighty-righty. Alrighty-LEFTY!" Amazing-chan chanted, laughing. I prepared to throw the balloon.

"OOH! Here's an awesome one…you people ready?"

"YEAH!"

"OK! Here it goes…alrighty-tighty-loosey-lefty-righty! Yes!"

I threw the balloon. Amazing-chan turned just in time to let out an alarmed screech before it smacked into her stomach. Kotori-chan piped three sharp breaths into the whistle.

"And Amazing-chan has gotten her third hit, so you're out! Futami's team is the winner. Great job, Mami-chan!"

I let out a cheer. The crowd applauded…or, at least the people in the crowd who were on my team. The rest booed.

"Alrighty-tighty-loosey-lefty-righty-lighty-darky…plighty…fighty-peacey! That's the end of it, then. Sorry Amazing-chan couldn't win for us, Sexy-chan." Amazing-chan looked over at Sexy-chan, who shook her head.

"Sexy-chan got out sooner then Amazing-chan did, so Sexy-chan is at fault too."

I grinned. "Hey, we should do that again sometime!"

Ganaha and Hibiki leapt up. "Yeah, definitely!" Ganaha shrieked. "I barely got to play. I wanna rematch, yo!"

I nodded. "Then, tomorrow we'll play again?"

"NO!" Iori-chan snapped. "That was…exhausting! We'll play again next month, OK?"

I nodded.

And thus, plans were made for The Second Monthly Twin-Hosted Water Balloon Battle!

*Mami means whistle both times.

(quick AN: WHAT DID I JUST WRITE. Is it any surprise that I had the most fun writing as Ami and Mami? From now on I'm going to say "alrighty-tighty-loosey-lefty-righty-lighty-darky-plighty-fighty-peacey".


	10. Chapter 10

iDOYuki's POV

The twins had been excitedly making plans for The Second Monthly Twin-Hosted Water Balloon Battle for quite a while now.

Yukiho-san and I were sitting on the couch. There wasn't exactly anything else to do. I really admired Yukiho-san…she was so brave, having had flown around in such large, scary-looking robots for so long. And yet, while other-worldly me was off saving her world, I had been here, making my way as an idol, yet still afraid of such trivial-seeming things in comparison to the kinds of things Yukiho-san faced.

"You look a little pale, Yukipyon," Yukiho-san commented. I smiled.

"N-no, I'm fine. I'm just tired," I insisted.

She nodded. "If you want to go home and sleep more, that's alright. I think I could get someone to take me there later."

I shook my head. "I'm alright…I can hold off for a while. Yukiho-san, what was it like being in those robots?" I asked, suddenly curious.

Yukiho-san shrugged. "Well…they're very large, and a little scary at first, but once you get used to them, they become your best friend," she explained.

"Your best friend is a r-robot?!" I gasped.

"No, not really," Yukiho-san laughed. "Although Nubilum and I grew pretty close, though I only had him for a short time. If I were to choose a best friend, it would be…" She trailed off.

"Is it Makoto-chan…wait, your Makoto-chan is…AoMako-chan, right?" I verified. Yukiho-san nodded.

"AoMako and I certainly aren't best friends, though," she told me. "We didn't speak to each other very often. We still don't."

"Oh…well, in this world, my best friend is Makoto-chan…MuraMako-chan. It's hard to get used to these nicknames," I whined.

Yukiho-san chuckled. "Yes, I know. When I call Haruka-san, I find myself getting the wrong Haruka in response. I have to remember she's Penguin-san now."

"I always call for Makoto-chan and no one answers…"

"I call for Ami-san sometimes and no one answers."

I shifted a bit. "Since Penguin-chan was the first person you mentioned…then, is Penguin-chan your best friend, then? Sh-she's not a robot, i-is she?"

"What? Um, no…I don't believe Penguin-san is a robot. If she is, she's never told me," Yukiho-san declared. "As for your other statement…I have trouble in determining whether I care more for Chihaya-san or for Penguin-san. Both of them are very important to me."

I nodded. "Then, you have two best friends. Right? At least, that's what I think…" I muttered.

She chuckled again. "Isn't that a little impossible?"

"It is?"

"Well, your very best friend is supposed to be that person you care for more then anything else…that one person whom you love with all your heart and treasure, who you can share anything with. Right?" Yukiho-san prompted.

After a moment, I nodded. "I hadn't ever really thought of that before…" I murmured.

"Can you say those things about the person you said was your best friend?" Yukiho-san asked.

I smiled. "About Makoto…MuraMako-chan? Yes, I can. What about you, Yukiho-san, about Penguin-san and Chihaya-san?"

She paused. "Taking all of that into account…after everything she's done for me, I would have to say I can say that about Chihaya-san…but I love Penguin-san very much too," she said fondly. "To be honest, I really can't choose between the two of them. You could say I have no best friend yet, or that I have two. Whichever works best, I suppose."

I blinked. "Not having a best friend is lonely, so I'll say you have two. Now, that way, you can never truly be lonely…!"

Yukiho-san stared at me and smiled. "Yes…that's true. Thank you, Yukipyon. This was a nice talk."

XenoYuki's POV

She'd fallen asleep on the couch.

After just a few minutes of us just sitting, Yukipyon fell asleep. She must have been really exhausted. The trouble was, I really wasn't sure where Yukipyon's home was, so I had no way to get her home. I could wake her up, but I felt it would be more important to let her get her rest. So I sat with her, silently, waiting for her to awaken so I could ask her how to get home.

The trouble was, I fell asleep too.

When I woke up, Yukipyon was still asleep. It was getting late now. The only people left in the office were the Ritsukos, Kotori-san and Producer-san, the Makotos, and the Ioris, along with the two of us. The others had long since left the building.

"Well, we're heading home, Producer," I heard MuraMako announce. "See you guys tomorrow. Oh…hey, Yukiho! Why are you two still here?"

"Yukipyon fell asleep," I explained. Then a thought hit me. "MuraMako, you're her best friend, right?"

She nodded. "Aw, she looks even cuter then usual when she sleeps…! I'm jealous."

"Do you happen to know where she lives? I would wake her and ask her myself, but I want her to get her rest. I'm hoping you can help me get her home or something…" I trailed off. "I'm sorry, is that too much to ask? You two are probably tired too."

"Nah, it's fine," MuraMako insisted. "Yeah, I know Yukipyon's address. I can get a taxi to take you guys home and we'll head back on a different taxi. Is that alright, or do you want me to tag along?"

"That should be fine," I said. "Thank you. Um…how will we get her to the taxi?"

MuraMako shrugged. "I'll carry her. AoMako, this is OK with you, right?"

AoMako grunted.

"What a specific response. Since I have no idea what you're thinking, I'm just gonna assume this is fine," MuraMako sighed. I watched her scoop Yukipyon from the couch and stand up. "Right this way, Yukiho."

After a few minutes, we'd made out way downstairs and out the door and found a taxi stop. When we sat down to wait for a taxi, I felt myself drift off into sleep again.

iDOYuki's POV

I woke up in my own bed. I had fallen asleep in the agency, but when I woke up, I was home. Yukiho-san was no where to be seen. "Yukiho-san?" I called.

"I'm downstairs," was the reply. I slid out of bed, still a little groggy, and treaded down the stairs of my home. Yukiho-san was sitting at the table.

"I hope you know how to cook," she yawned. "I always fall asleep in the middle of making something. I hate to bother you like this."

"I didn't know you knew my—our, now—address," I said.

"I don't," she admitted. "MuraMako does. She got us a taxi and brought us home, I guess. I fell asleep at the taxi stop and no one woke me up until I was awakened by noises in your driveway."

"A-and then…you had the servants let us in?"

"Yes, and then MuraMako carried you upstairs and put you in bed, I crawled in beside you, and then I fell asleep again. The Makotos probably went home after that."

"They were both there?"

"Yes."

I giggled. "I don't think…your world's Makoto-chan likes me very much."

"She doesn't particularly 'like' most of us," Yukiho-san laughed. "Aside from Azusa-san, that is. And she gets along pretty well with the rest of us from her world, but the people of your world seem to really get on her nerves."

I sat next to Yukiho-san. "For her not liking you, you certainly know a lot about her."

She shrugged. "I suppose. I don't mean to be rude, but can you please make my food now?"

I squeaked and jumped out of the chair. "R-right! I-I'm sorry, I'll get my mom to get started right away…"

Yukiho-san smiled. "It's fine."

I found my mom and got her to prepare a meal for Yukiho-san and me. It tasted delicious, and Yukiho-san seemed to like it too. She fell asleep while eating once, though, so I wasn't sure what to think. Yukiho-san told me she does that a lot. I'm just glad she's here, though…

My twin from another world…Hagiwara Yukiho-san.


	11. Chapter 11

DoppelTaka's POV

The young woman they called Shijou Takane was mysterious, beautiful, and yet rather odd. She was a woman much like myself, even possessing the silver hair I thought I alone had. And she seemed to be a rather secretive person.

It wasn't that I minded. I myself greatly valued my privacy, although there were certainly things I was willing to share. But when I asked this other Takane about her origin, or perhaps, the names of her parents, her answer was always the same:

"That is a secret."

I wasn't entirely keen to tell her all about myself either, though, so I allowed her to keep her secrets. Somehow I wanted to bond with her. I wanted to learn all I could discover about her. And what better way to do such a thing then through the passion we both shared?

Shijou Takane and I would go out for ramen.

When I proposed the idea, she looked at me and smiled. "Ramen sounds like such a splendid idea," she sighed wistfully. "There is a shop I know of, where we may purchase the delicious noodles. Takane, are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "I have nothing else to do at this moment, so going out to ramen immediately would be a pleasurable experience," I promised. She nodded back to me.

"Then let us be off."

When we arrived at the ramen store we'd selected, we realized that the line was so long it stretched out the door and passed a few other stores. I exchanged a worried glance with Shijou.

"The line is long," I stated bluntly. She nodded.

"Indeed," she agreed. "But, if we gave up now, we would never be able to have a wonderful encounter with the ramen at this store." She smiled at me. "Takane, do you wish to wait in the line with me?"

"Of course. It will be a long wait, but I think it is worth it."

"Then we shall stay."

iDOTaka's POV

The wait lasted forty-five minutes, which, was good time for such a long line. Takane and I entered the shop, prepared to place our orders. The man at the counter smiled at us.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he greeted. "How may I help you?"

"Miso ramen, extra bean sprouts, as much broth as you can fit, and ground pork," I announced. Takane nodded.

"I would like to order the same, but without the ground pork, please. Instead, I would like extra leeks. Thank you."

The man at the counter blinked, still smiling, and wrote down our orders. "Thank you, we'll get right on that. Go ahead and take your seats."

Takane found us some empty seats and we sat down to await our orders. She looked at me.

"Shijou, do you always get the same kind of ramen?" she asked. "I, in particular, tend to have a set order, a 'usual', if you please. It is the ramen I love the most."

I blinked. "Takane, is it not worth it to try new things as often as possible?" I asked. "Today will be my first time trying ground pork with the bean sprouts and the miso ramen. I believe it will be delicious. I am willing to try."

She nodded to show she understood. We sat in silence until the man at the counter delivered our orders. I thanked him and passed Takane her ramen. She broke her chopsticks immediately and began to eat. I followed suit. We ate in silence, not feeling the need to speak, until Takane opened her mouth.

"Shijou?"

"Yes?" I replied.

"I was born in Kyoto," she announced. "My father is Japanese, and my mother is French. I thought you would be curious, and I wanted you to know that I trust you."

I blinked, caught slightly off-guard. I hadn't expected her to be so open. But, it was true that I also trusted Takane in return. I smiled.

"I trust you also. However, I do not feel the need to tell you of my life. I will say this, though—I come from a rich family. My nationality does not consist of all Japanese, as well. That is all I feel like telling you," I told her.

She nodded again. "I understand. Thank you for sharing with me. I am almost done with my ramen, so if you are almost finished as well, we may leave soon."

"I should be finished soon."

Takane smiled. "Then, we shall leave. I have finished."

"I need another moment."

"I shall wait."

I finished the last of the ramen and stood. "Thank you for the meal," I said to the cook, who nodded to show he had heard me. I then turned to Takane. "We may go." Takane and I exited the building together, and I led her back to our home. There we sat and spoke as much or as little as we pleased, until the evening was upon us and we went off to sleep.

(**Author's Note: A bonus conversation with myself when writing this chapter.**

Me: *at a complete loss for Takane's chapter* ...what should I write about? I don't know Takane's personality very well...

My mind: RAMEN.

Me: ...ramen...I will write about ramen.

...WOW I DON'T KNOW TAKANE AT ALL

**I apologize to those of you who hopd for a serious, kinda cold, distant Takane? I'm not very good with figuring her out. Please forgive me. If you have any suggestions on changing around her bonding time with her twin, please give it to me. I need it. Thank you X3)**


	12. Chapter 12

iDORitsu's POV

Ritsuko and I had been slumped over the computer for the past few days. The only break we got was the First Monthly Twin-Hosted Water Balloon Battle. But both of us knew the importance of figuring out how to send her and her friends back to their world.

She blinked. "Demon General! I think I may have an idea…"

I whirled on her. "Well, don't just stand there. Tell me your idea."

"The portal appeared in our world because we were supposed to come here, right?"

"Right."

"And the portal appeared in your world because we had to get through, right?"

"Right…"

"So," Ritsuko began, "the portal will obviously appear back in this world when it wants to send us home!"

I said nothing. There was a period of lengthy silence. "So…you're saying…that we just have to wait," I confirmed.

She nodded. "You have any better ideas?"

After a moment, I shook my head. "No, not really," I admitted. "But who knows how long it'll take? We need to get you home-"

"I wouldn't mind staying," Ritsuko cut in. "I like it here. There isn't really anything to do back in our world anyways."

"That doesn't matter," I sniffed indignantly. "The fact that there are people here from another world is dangerous. Who knows what could be happening up in space, trying to keep you here?"

Ritsuko laughed. I felt the sudden urge to hit her. "Relax, relax! Don't worry about it; when your world has had enough, it'll send us back. OK?"

I glared at her. "This is serious, Ritsuko."

"I'm BEING serious, Demon General."

Her eyes had narrowed, her expression had become serious. She squinted down at me past her glasses. "100% serious. How exactly did you plan on summoning a portal, anyway?"

I shrugged. "I'm researching it…"

"How many times do you think something like this has happened in the world? You learn from experience. I don't think anyone could know how. There probably isn't anything online."

There was another period of lengthy silence. Then I cracked a smile.

"OK, you win. We'll wait for the portal to show up. But in the meantime…" I trailed off.

"Now that that's settled there's nothing to do," Ritsuko finished. "So…we go home I guess."

I nodded. "There's been plenty of time to clean the agency so that's done…" I placed a finger on my lip. "And…the house is all clean too so…" I sighed. "What, we just…sit?"

Ritsuko grinned. "I think…we should go to a spa. We need to relax."

"A spa?" I shook my head. "Sitting in a chair while women I don't know poke at my feet isn't exactly my idea of a good time…"

Ritsuko laughed. "Oh, come on! Have you ever even been to a spa?'

"Have you?" I challenged.

"No! And that's exactly why I want to go today!" she sighed, exasperated. "You don't get it. Getting a massage…"

"No thanks."

"Sitting in a nice, steamy sauna…"

"I don't like sweating."

"A pedicure…"

"Didn't I tell you I don't like random people touching my feet?"

"A facial?"

"Negatory."

"It all sounds so relaxing! And since there isn't anything to do, I think we deserve a pleasure trip for all our hard work," Ritsuko declared. "Then it's settled. I'll set up an appointment over the phone."

I groaned. "Didn't I just tell you I don't find these things pleasurable? When there's so much to do…" I trailed off.

"There's _nothing _to do," Ritsuko pointed out. "Your point?"

I blinked. A massage was starting to sound really nice, and maybe sweating wouldn't be all that bad in a controlled environment. Plus, I think my face is getting early wrinkles due to stress.

All in all, the fact there was nothing to do made the spa sound 50% more appealing.

XenoRitsu's POV

"OK…OK! Thank you. We'll be over as soon as possible." I hung up the phone. "Good news. They have room for us to show up in fifteen minutes. Bad news is if we miss that, we have to wait a whole month," I explained. Demon General looked over at me.

"Then, let's go!" she demanded. "No use sitting here when we can sit somewhere else."

"OK!"

Her enthusiasm caught on quickly. Soon both of us were at the spa, letting the steam of the sauna melt our cares away, having all the stress massaged out of our bodies, letting the feel of the cream on our skin relax us in a way I'm sure Demon General hadn't thought possible. There were moments when doubt crossed her face. I'm sure she was thinking about the cost of this full treatment, and how badly it was going to damage her savings. But I assured her that I had enough yen to handle it, and eventually she gave in completely. It was nice to see her smile.

When we finally finished, the wide, relaxed grin on Demon General's face almost made me want to buy her another treatment. I hadn't seen a smile on the face of that stressed-out woman in days—and I doubt anyone else had either. I poked her shoulder.

"Silly Demon General," I teased, "you enjoyed it, huh?"

"It was nice," she sighed. "I haven't felt this relaxed…in my life! Ah, except for…early childhood, maybe? When there wasn't anything to worry about." She let out another sigh. "Thanks for treating me. You sure you don't want me to pitch in?"

"And make you worry about savings? No way. I have enough." Before she could protest, I handed the proper amount of yen to the women at the register, who collected her money and sent us off. Together we headed back to the house.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I said fondly. "I thought you were going to end up hating me for it after all."

"I needed some time off," Demon General pointed out. "It was practical and luxurious. In the end I guess I should have just trusted you." She looked at me. "Just like I'm trusting you about this portal thing. I hope you're right."

"What I hope is that all of us can truly learn to get along before we have to go," I laughed. "The Chihayas, for example. Polar opposites, am I right?"

"Not entirely. But for the most part, yes."

"The Amis. They're pretty darn different."

"True, but they seem to be getting along well."

"The Makotos?"

Demon General nodded. "And the Yukihos. I'm not that concerned about them getting along, though. I think it'll be fine."

I smiled. "We forgot a pair."

She smiled as well. "Us?"

"Yes, and we turned out fine." I paused. "Right?"

She nodded and stuck out her hand. "Right."

I shook it. "Good. Then, let's just focus on making the other children happy."

"Ritsuko, don't make us sound like Santa Claus…"


	13. Chapter 13

**(quick author's note: you know how I said the two Mikis were only going to have spoken words and thoughts in third person? Yeah. That comes into play now.)**

DoppelMiki's POV

"Miki is bored!" I announced. "Miki wants to do something."

"Miki—Miki means—Hoshii! Hoshii wants to do something also," Hoshii whined.

"Miki and Hoshii should go shopping. Or to the aquarium. Or shopping at the aquarium!"

"Miki is a genius~nano!" Hoshii gasped. "Honey, can Miki and Hoshii go shopping at the aquarium?"

The man Hoshii called Honey looked over at us. "How would you manage that?" he asked.

Hoshii shrugged. "Don't aquariums have gift shops? Miki and Hoshii can look at all the cute little fish and then buy some cute earrings of the cute fish at the cute gift shop." She blinked. "Or…Hoshii and Miki could sleep."

I shook my head. "Miki would rather go shop at the aquarium."

"Hoshii will agree under one condition," Hoshii declared.

I blinked. "What?"

"We stop for onigiri. Otherwise, Hoshii would kinda rather sleep. But onigiri makes up for it."

I beamed. "Of course. Miki loves onigiri after all."

"Hoshii does too."

iDOMiki's POV

Miki and I stopped at an onigiri stand before having the taxi we were taking bring us all the way to the aquarium. The nice taxi driver even offered to wait for us.

"Six onigiri~nano!" Miki announced to the man at the onigiri stand. "That way Miki can have three, and Hoshii can have three too."

Hoshii smiled. "Miki is generous. Thanks for paying."

I waved my hand dismissively. "No problem, no problem. It would be a crimeto keep you from onigiri."

"Hoshii has no money."

"Miki knows. That's why Miki is paying."

The man at the stand gave us our onigiri and we thanked him. Miki led me back to the taxi and we got in.

"These seats are comfy," I sighed, leaning back against the taxi seats. They certainly weren't as comfortable as my bed back home, or even the couch at the agency, but they were comfortable enough for a nap, I thought.

Miki tapped the taxi driver's shoulder. "Hey, how much longer until we get to the aquarium?"

"Another half an hour," the driver answered.

I giggled. "Then, a half-hour nap it is. Hoshii is gonna sleep. Miki, you wake Hoshii when we get there." I paused. "Or don't. Hoshii wouldn't mind sleeping longer." I curled against the chairs, leaned my head against the window, and drifted into sleep.

I woke up to Miki shaking me.

"Hoshii, we're here! Wake up…!"

I yawned and stretched. "'Kay…" I murmured. "Hoshii…is still tired."

"Well, now we get to look at cute fish!" Miki squealed excitedly. "And buy cute earrings! And show everyone how cute we are. Miki thinks Hoshii and Miki are cuter then any fish."

I nodded and stepped out of the taxi. "Afuu…let's go inside, before Hoshii decides to go back to sleep. Seeing the fishies will remind Hoshii why she likes aquariums."

We visited in the aquarium for a few hours, stopping at the gift store at the end to look at the cute little merchandise. Eventually, the two of us got too tired and decided to head back.

When we walked outside, Miki wiggled the bag of onigiri in her hand. "We never ate these," she commented. "Let's sit down and eat now."

I nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Hoshii is hungry…"

"Miki is hungry too! Let's eat our onigiri~nano!"

"Yes~nano!"

We sat down at a table and pulled out our onigiri, and began to eat. Miki handed me my three and left her three on the table in front of her. She finished two before I'd even finished my first and I giggled.

"Miki is a pig," I stated.

Miki blushed. "Miki was really hungry…s-so…" She paused and laughed. "That's true, huh? Well, Hoshii is lazy."

"Miki is too. Less lazy, but still lazy."

Miki blinked. "True," she sighed. "Hoshii, when you finish, we'll go home and sleep, OK?"

I smiled and nodded. "OK. Let Hoshii finish." I bit into my second onigiri after finishing the first. Miki started to eat her third.

"Hoshii likes you," I said after a moment. "You're cute like Hoshii, and lazy like Hoshii, and you like the same kinds of things Hoshii does. Hoshii likes you."

"Miki likes you too," Miki said fondly. "Ooh, we should swing by the cellphone store on our way home! Miki heard they just came out with a super-cute accessory!"

I squeaked in excitement. "Totally! We have to go now!" I stuffed my last two onigiri back in the bag. "We'll eat those later. Let's go get that accessory!"

Miki jumped up and shoved the rest of her onigiri in her mouth before following me down the street. For the rest of the day, I enjoyed shopping with my twin, Hora Miki.

**(Another quick author's note: you have no idea how badly I had to resist the urge to give AoMako a cameo appearence in this chapter, just going insane over all the crabs at the aquarium. Patience, self. That'll have to come later. This was another chapter where I had no clue what I was doing XD)**


	14. Bonus Chapter 1

iDOKoto's POV

They were so adorable, all those little twins running around the agency! It kind of made me wish I had one myself. But, at this point, I suppose I should have been used to being alone. It wasn't a challenge, though. I was determined to support these girls with a pleasant smile on my face, instead of getting all hung up on my lack of a twin.

Haruka came running around the corner, tripped on the floor, and fell over, then promptly stood and brushed herself off. "Kotori-san!" she squeaked. "Kotori-san, a party! A party!"

"What are you talking about, Haruka-chan?" I laughed. She grinned.

"We want to have a party to celebrate our twins. Could you please help us get supplies?"

I smiled. "Oh, that's what this is about. Well, what would you like me to get?"

Haruka handed me a list. "We made a list for you, Kotori-san. You're in charge of decorations, is that OK?"

I nodded. "That's fine," I promised. "What will you be doing, Haruka-chan?"

"I'm in charge of baking a cake. Penguin-chan is going to help," Haruka explained. "Um…the Yayoi-chans are going to get us supplies. And the rest has to wait until we have the decorations." She gazed at me expectantly.

"Oh…oh! I-I should go get them, then?" I asked.

Haruka smiled and nodded. "Oh, yes please, Kotori-san! Do your best!"

I grabbed the list from Haruka and headed out the door. _Item one…looks like streamers. OK!_ I knew exactly where I was heading. To the party store, then!

DoppelKoto's POV

I had been looking around in this party store for the things I needed for a while, but I couldn't seem to find something as simple as streamers anywhere. The door to the store suddenly opened and a young woman walked in, looking perplexed—and exactly like me. I dropped the bag I held in my hand. The woman dropped her list. Both of us bent to lift our things simultaneously.

"Hello," she greeted. "Um…do you know…where the streamers are?"

"No, I'm afraid not." I laughed lightly. "I'm looking for them also. Care to search with me?"

The woman smiled. "Sure. Can I ask your name?"

I blinked. "Odorou Kotori."

"I'm Otonashi Kotori," she said. "Wow, this is weird! Who knew I had a twin?"

"I have a twin?"

A wild fantasy floated into my head. Perhaps…we had been separated at birth because we were being hunted…by villains!

_"It's time now…we can't keep you together any longer!"_

_ "Mother, please try! I don't want to leave Kotori-onee-chan!"_

_ "I'm sorry, my dears…but if we can't hide you away, then the bad man will get you and all will be for naught…I'm so sorry…"_

_ "Mother…! Kotori-onee-chan…!"_

_ "Imouto!"_

I shook my head to clear the thoughts, sighing wistfully.

"Ah…! Kotori, don't do that!" I warned myself. A second later, I heard the other Kotori echo my words. I laughed. She did too.

"I'm surprised," I muttered. "Who knew there was someone out there who looked so much like me?"

"And acted like you…?"

"Yes!" I blinked. "Oh! You were here for streamers. Let's go look!" She nodded and we walked off, further into the store.

iDOKoto's POV

Together with Odorou-chan, I found the streamers and we moved to the next item on the list—party hats. Odorou-chan and I had a lot of fun experimenting, playing with the hats, and finally settling on hats that looked like crowns. We could crown the prince and princess twin…or something like that. It seemed like a cute enough set of hats.

We moved all the way down the list, and Odorou-chan helped me pay. The man at the register looked at us strange when I spoke to Odorou-chan. I wondered why. When we finished the shopping, I drove Odorou-chan back to the agency. We walked back in and I flung open the door, bags bursting with supplies.

"I'm back!" I called. "Haruka-chan, I have the decorations!"

Haruka ran over and grabbed the bags from me. "Yay…! These are perfect. What cute little hats!"

"Odorou-chan helped me pick them out," I explained, gesturing to my twin.

Haruka looked confused. "Who?"

"My twin!" I exclaimed. "Odorou Kotori." Odorou-chan waved.

Haruka blinked. "…Kotori-san?"

"Yes, Haruka-chan?"

"There's no one else here…"

I turned. "W-what? But Odorou-chan…" It was then that I realized, with a start, that Haruka-chan was right. Odorou-chan had vanished. "But…she was right here! My twin..."

"Sorry, Kotori-san," Haruka said sympathetically. "You must have been imagining things…"

"Un…" I moaned. "It's not fair…"

"Don't worry! You can share our twins!" Haruka exclaimed happily. "Come on, don't look so down! Smile, Kotori-san! Smile!"

I grinned. Haruka's optimism always had that effect. She was right after all.

"Right…! Don't do this, Kotori! Let's have a good time, Haruka-chan!"

"Yosh…!"


	15. Chapter 14

(**Author's note: Now, this is where everything gets crazy. I'll be randomly switching POVs throught the next...five or six chapters. The characters will b****e in no particular order. Please bear with me XD)**

XenoYayo's POV

The idea for a party was a good one, but we had such short notice that we didn't get to actually start doing anything for a while. It didn't matter to me, though, since me and Yayoi-chan had been put in charge of getting supplies for the Harukas to bake with—and for the Hibikis to cook with.

"Star-chan, I think I party is a really fun idea, don't you?" Yayoi-chan suddenly asked me.

I grinned. "Of course it is! I love parties," I gushed. "The last time I had a party, it was Christmas and we had cake and shared presents…do we get presents?!"

"That would be great!" Yayoi-chan gasped. "But I would feel a little bad if everyone got me a present and I got nothing for them…I know! I could get Iori-chan a cute little jacket for her Usa-chan! Because, sometimes, she complains that she thinks Usa-chan might be getting cold."

"Usa-chan…that's her stuffed bunny, right?"

"Uh-huh! It's really cute." Yayoi-chan smiled. "Iori-chan really loves that bunny. I don't have a stuffed animal like that that I treasure, but I have my family and friends so it's OK!"

I smiled again. "I don't have something like that either, but I do have Haruka." I paused. "You know what's weird? In your world you and Sunshine-Forehead are best friends, but in my world, we can't stand each other," I laughed.

"Is Sunshine-Forehead what you call your world's Iori-chan?" Yayoi-chan questioned. "Star-chan…that's kind of rude…"

I shrugged. "We don't like each other," I repeated.

Yayoi-chan kicked her feet. "My world's Iori-chan is super sweet and super nice and super smart and-"

"Lies!" MuraMako interrupted. "Iori's not nice! Well…at least not to me!"

"That's because she doesn't like you at all," Yayoi-chan stated bluntly. I laughed.

"She certainly isn't nice to me either," I commented.

"Yayoi-chan, Iori-chan is only nice to you," Haruka-chan commented.

Yayoi-chan shook her head. "That can't be true. She's nice to Miura-san and Great-chan and…to everyone!" She blinked. "Except…MuraMako and Star-chan, and Hoshii. Because she doesn't like them."

Iori sauntered into the room and settled on the couch. "Why is everyone talking about me?" she asked.

Yayoi-chan jumped up. "Iori-chan! U-uun, now that you're here, you have to explain to everyone how nice you are."

MuraMako stifled a laugh. I coughed. Hoshii smirked.

Iori smiled. "Well, I'm nice to people I care about, at least." There was a long pause and Iori blushed slightly. "Like you."

Yayoi-chan's grin grew even bigger. "Yay…! Iori-chan, high touch!" Reluctantly, Iori fulfilled her request. Yayoi-chan returned to sitting by my side. "I think we should play…a party game."

I blinked. "Ooh, like…seven minutes in heaven?" I prompted.

"Eh…but, there aren't any boys except for Producer-san," Haruka-chan commented.

"And Makoto-kun," Hoshii added. "Or at least, she's close enough, right?"

"Don't bring me into this," MuraMako sighed. "Just…pick another game."

"Spin the bottle!" Sexy-chan and Amazing-chan suggested.

"One that doesn't involve kissing! Most of us are girls!"

I blinked. "Truth or dare?" I suggested.

The room went silent. Most of the girls turned to look at Sexy-chan and Amazing-chan, then shook their heads.

"I'm too scared of those two," Iori said, flicking her head in the direction of her world's Futami twins, who grinned evilly.

Azusa-san and Miura-san came into the room, followed by Penguin-chan, who was holding a large cake. Penguin-chan put the cake on our snack table and then sat down on my other side. Azusa-san and Miura-san took an empty couch.

"Maa, what's everyone talking about?" Miura-san asked.

"Party games," I answered. "Got any ideas? We've already ruled out…Seven minutes in heaven, spin the bottle, and truth or dare." I looked at Yayoi-chan for clarification. She nodded. "That's all."

iDOAzu's POV

I placed my face in my hand. "Um…we could play pin the tail on the donkey!"

"What a childish game!" Iori-chan scoffed. "I have a suggestion I think you'll all like; after all, the great Iori-chan came up with it. Nihihi!" She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "Now, listen! My idea is-"

"Charades!" I cut in. "We should play charades!"

A few people cheered. Some (like Chihaya-chan and Futami-chan) muttered something or groaned. Some of them just looked ecstatic.

"I was…just about to say that! If you'd have let me finish…" She trailed off. "Fine! Since that's what's been decided, I'll play."

"Who would like to go first?" I asked. Everyone stared at me. "OK, I'll start us off. Oh…should we pick cards or just come up with something?"

Amazing-chan and Great-chan exchanged a glance. "Can Sexy-chan and Amazing-chan write up cards?" Amazing-chan asked.

I was about to say yes when I saw everyone else in the room shaking their heads and frantically making motions at me to say "no". I blinked.

"I'm sorry, but your idea has been denied," I answered. "I'll just come up with something."

_Hm…now, what would be a good thing to act out? I could try…I know! I'll be a tree._

I stood up. "Here I go." To begin, I placed my arms in a circle above my head.

"Lolipop!" Yayoi-chan guessed. I shook my head.

"You're the sun!" Penguin-chan cried. I shook my head again and began to sway in the "breeze".

"A wiggly, round-headed caterpillar!" Ganaha-chan suddenly shouted from her place beside her twin at the snack table. Again, I shook my head.

"A giant, squirming sack of un-born babies!" Sexy-chan suggested.

I blinked and shook my head. _Hm…how else can I…_ I tried separating my arms from being in a circle and waved just my arms instead of my whole body.

"Are you…um…" Iori-chan sighed. "Well, for goodness' sake, you can't expect us to guess it if you're doing it so badly!"

"A tree."

I turned to my twin, Azusa-san, who had uttered the words, and nodded. "That's right, Azusa-san! I was a tree!" I said gleefully. "Azusa-san, you go next."

Azusa-san laughed lightly and waved her hand at me. "I'd rather watch, if that's alright."

"Then…pick the next person."

Hibiki-chan's hand shot up. Ganaha's followed soon after.

"Goya Hibiki, you will be next," Azusa-san announced.

"Ya make it sound like I'm on a death sentence," Hibiki-chan muttered. "A'ight! Here I go! No problemo!"

DoppelHibi's POV

_Ok then, I definitely wanna be some kinda animal. Um…I know! I'll be a cow!_

I decided to begin by getting on my hands and knees.

"Cat!" Haruka-chan guessed. I shook my head.

"D-d-dog?" Yukipyon suggested.

I shook my head again and started to "chew my cud", as cows did.

"A giant, chewing table of blood!" Amazing-chan gasped. I shook my head slowly.

"What the heck?" I asked.

"Shh!" everyone else hissed. I rolled my eyes.

I bent and started to "eat grass".

"Are you a horse?" Uta-chan questioned.

I shook my head and returned to the "cud-chewing".

There was a period of silence.

"Cow!" Star-chan suddenly erupted. "Cow, everyone! She is definitely a cow."

I jumped up. "Bingo!" I yelped. "You win! Get on up here, it's your turn!"

Star-chan instantly ran up into the middle of the room, spread her arms and legs, and did nothing else.

There was silence.

"Star," Iori-chan said quietly. "She's a star."

Star-chan pursed her lips. "Was it that easy?" she muttered.

"Yes," Haruka-chan admitted, nodding. The rest of the room murmured agreement. Star-chan sighed.

"Fine, Sunshine-Forehead. Your turn."

"W-what did you call me?!"

"Go on now, Iori-chan," I ordered. "Hurry on up so we can get to the cooler stuff!"

Iori-chan grunted, but she agreed and walked into Star-chan's place. Then she stood still and did nothing.

"An idiot?" MuraMako suggested.

Iori-chan shot her a glare and shook her head briskly.

"You sure? Because I think it's an idiot. It really does look like an idiot, don't you think?"

Iori-chan's glare intensified and she grunted.

"Are you…a freak?"

Iori stomped her foot angrily and shook her head, obviously strongly resisting the urge to either yell at or hit MuraMako.

MuraMako nodded slowly. "Ah, I get it. It's an angry freak."

"Shut up, you annoying little thing!" Iori finally snapped.

"SHH!" everyone else hissed. I laughed.

"I think it's a statue!" I guessed.

She shook her head.

"A Forehead-chan?" Hoshii murmured.

"What the heck is that, Hoshii?" I sighed. Iori-chan shook her head harder. She tossed her hair and lifted her hand to her mouth, "giggling" silently as to replicate her signature "nihihi!"

"A giant, evil mecha robot sent to destroy the world with the help of its butt missiles!" Sexy-chan gasped.

Iori-chan sighed dramatically. "You guys are all so bad at this!" she huffed.

"SHH!" everyone hissed again. She rolled her eyes and placed one hand on her shoulder. The other one wrapped around her stomach as if to stop a cramp…or hold something.

"You're…carrying Usa-chan!" Yayoi-chan said gleefully.

Iori-chan thought for a moment, then wiggled her hand as if to say "kind of".

"I seriously think it's a freak," MuraMako stated matter-of-factly.

Iori-chan threw a pillow at her. MuraMako blocked it and stuck her tongue out at Iori-chan, who turned away with a "hmph!"

There was silence. Iori-chan tried everything; tossing her hair again, sitting on the couch like a diva, tilting her chin proudly. No one could figure it out.

Finally Miura-san made us give up. "Iori-chan, please tell us what you were," she pleaded.

Iori-chan heaved a great sigh. "I was perfection! How could you not have guessed that?!"

The silence afterwards was broken by MuraMako and Star-chan's uncontrollable laughter. Iori-chan threw pillows at both of them. MuraMako whacked it away and kept laughing. Star-chan dodged the pillow.

Iori-chan blushed. "Stop laughing, you…!" she insisted. "Geez…fine, I will go again!"

"Try to choose something that fits you this time," Star-chan suggested between peals of laughter. MuraMako nodded agreement and tried to calm down.

Iori-chan glared daggers at them. After a few moments, they calmed down.

"Go on ahead, Sunshine-Forehead," Star-chan invited her.

"My name is Iori-chan! Not Sunshine-Forehead!"

"Whatever, whatever! Just pick something else."

Iori sniffed indignantly. "Hmph. Fine."


	16. Chapter 15

iDOIo's POV

I thought for a moment about what I wanted to do. For a moment I considered being that Star-chan or that MuraMako or that Hoshii just to see if they would figure out I was trying to be "annoying". In the end, I settled on "painting my nails".

I took a spot on the couch and opened my hand in front of me, examining my fingernails. Then I took an imaginary brush of polish and began to "paint".

"You're filing your nails!" Penguin-chan guessed. I blinked and wiggled my hand to tell her she was on to something. She nodded to show she understood and I returned to my "painting".

"Are you a Forehead-chan this time?" Hoshii questioned. I glared at her and rolled my eyes, then dipped my imaginary brush into my imaginary polish and proceeded to "paint" the nails on my other hand.

"A giant, flashing glob of soup!" Amazing-chan cried. "That's it!"

I shook my head briskly. _How has no one guessed it yet?_ I thought. _This one is easy._

Then Miki raised her hand. "Painting your nails. The forehead girl is painting her nails!"

"It's IORI-CHAN!" I snapped. "Geez, get it right! But yes, I was painting my nails so it's your turn." Huffing loudly, I went to my original spot on the couch next to Minase-chan, who turned to me and sighed.

"So they do that to you too, huh?" she muttered. "Annoying, isn't it?"

"Extremely," I agreed. "Alright, Miki, it's your turn."

Miki nodded. "Miki knows. Miki is going to go now. Can Miki use a prop?" she asked.

Miura-san thought. "Hm…sure, why not. As long as it won't completely give it away!"

"It won't," Miki promised. She looked around, finally settling on a small blanket lying length-wise on the top of the couch. "Can Miki use this?"

"Sure."

Miki lifted the blanket, spread it out on the floor, and sat curled up in the middle of it, and then pulled one side over her left shoulder and the other over her right. All in all, she looked like a girl in a ball covered in a blanket—which was really all she was anyways.

"A giant, glob-y sack of violet kangaroos!" Sexy-chan shouted.

Miki shook her head.

There was a long period of silence. Then Hoshii jumped up.

"Onigiri~nano!" she yelped. "Was Hoshii right? Is Miki onigiri?"

Miki jumped up also. "Yes! Miki was onigiri! Hoshii is smart."

"Hoshii knows."

Miki picked up the blanket and walked over to an empty spot on the floor, then grabbed a pillow and curled up in the blanket on the floor. After a few seconds, we concluded she had fallen asleep. Hoshii yawned.

"Hoshii is going to sleep too, after she goes." She walked into the middle of the room. "OK…this is Hoshii's act." She lay down in the middle of the room, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

"Sleeping," Shijou stated after a moment. "Hoshii is sleeping. I do believe it is my turn now…"

Hoshii said nothing. With a sigh, Ganaha and Hibiki worked together to carry her out of the way of the next performer: Shijou Takane.

DoppelTaka's POV

It was Shijou's turn now. I watched her anxiously, determined to be the first one to guess her act. If I couldn't figure out what she was doing, how could I call myself a proper twin? She stepped elegantly into the middle of the room.

"May I use a prop?" she questioned Miura-san.

"As long as it won't give it away."

"I do not believe it will. Now, I need a volunteer…"

Ganaha flung her hand up.

"Ganaha. Please hold that pillow above your head and stand over there."

Ganaha gave her a thumbs-up. "No problemo!" she insisted, lifting the aforementioned pillow and going to the place Shijou had indicated. She lifted the pillow. Shijou turned and stared at it.

And she did nothing else.

"A giant…floating…energy mass…of guts!" Amazing-chan declared.

Shijou shook her head and lifted a hand to her head. She continued to stare at the pillow. For a moment I thought I recognized her posture, but I couldn't figure it out.

"Are you…watching the sunset?" Futami guessed.

Shijou closed her eyes and shook her head, then opened them again and continued to look at the pillow.

"Ugyaa, my arms are gettin' tired. Someone hurry and get it right!" Ganaha complained.

Shijou placed her other hand on an imaginary flat surface and smiled at the pillow.

It was then when I thought of where I'd seen that posture.

"You are staring at the moon," I announced, and Shijou nodded.

"Correct," she answered. "Takane, it is your turn now."

Ganaha dropped the pillow and ran to her seat, careful not to step on the sleeping Mikis on the way. I walked into the pre-determined performance area. Then I lifted my arms in a graceful arch above my head and placed one foot behind the other.

"A giant, swimming shark of peanut butter!"

I shook my head at Great-chan.

"Takane, are you swimming?" Penguin-chan guessed.

I shook my head.

"Picking apples…" Azusa-san murmured.

I shook my head again and lowered my arms, then did a quick plie' and lifted my leg to the side.

"Ballet?" Yukipyon suggested. "Takane-san, are you doing ballet?"

I nodded at her and smiled. "Yukipyon, it is your turn now," I told her.

She smiled. "O-OK! I think I know what I want to do…!"

iDOYuki's POV

I took Takane-san's place in the room and prepared to begin my act. _Um…maybe I should…I know! I'll dig a hole! _I was about to ask Miura-san if I could use my shovel for a prop, but then I remembered that she had said we couldn't use anything that would give it away. So I arranged my hands on an imaginary shovel. I started to "dig".

Immediately, I saw MuraMako-chan fling her hand into the air.

"You're digging a hole," she declared. I grinned and nodded.

"W-was I that obvious?" I stuttered.

She laughed. "Well, for me you were. I'm sure the other people who know you were thinking it too."

"I-I'm sorry! I should have chosen something harder…"

MuraMako-chan laughed again. "It's OK. We just got two or three hard ones in a row-well, aside from Hoshii's-so I think we deserved it." She stood. "My turn, right?"

I nodded. "I think so…"

MuraMako-chan nodded back and took my place.

"OK. Um, let me think…"

"Annoying!" Iori-chan gasped. "That must be it! You're annoying!"

"I haven't even started yet…wait, I-I'm not annoying!" MuraMako-chan snapped.

"Then, are you stupid?" Iori-chan asked.

"No."

"I think you're stupid. That's not it? OK…ugly? Are you ugly?"

"I-I am not!"

Iori-chan paused. "An annoying, stupid, ugly thing?"

MuraMako-chan growled. "I should just shove that pillow right in your face. Either that, or my fist. Tale your pick."

"Oh no, the stupid thing's gonna attack such a cute and innocent little girl?"

"'Innocent' my butt!"

"P-please calm down!" I begged.

"Yukipyon, stay out of this!" they both snapped. I squeaked. Yukiho-san chuckled beside me.

"Are they always like this?" she asked me. I nodded.

"Well…not always. For the most part they can get along, but if something is started between them, it usually takes a while to get them to stop fighting…" I trailed off.

"Hoshii thinks Forehead-chan should stop being mean to Makoto-kun, and Makoto-kun should stop annoying Forehead-chan because that's Hoshii's job," Hoshii announced. She yawned, having just woken up from her nap due to the screaming.

"Don't call me Forehead-chan!" Iori-chan shrieked. "When will you finally get it through your thick skull? It's Iori-chan!"

"It isn't if Hoshii wants to annoy Forehead-chan," Hoshii pointed out.

"You're annoying!"

"Good. That's what Hoshii wanted."

Finally, MuraMako-chan sighed. "OK, you know what? I'm just going to actually take my turn now. Oh, and if you make a suggestion I don't like, I'll _actually hit _you with a pillow." She smirked at Iori-chan, who lifted her chin defiantly.

"I'm sure you will," she hissed sarcastically.

MuraMako-chan gave her a half-smile, and then proceeded to stand still and do nothing.

"Are you M-Makoto-chan?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "Yukipyon, I haven't started yet. I'm thinking of which sport to use…I-I mean…! No…forget you heard that! OK…"

I giggled. She smiled sheepishly.

"Alright then, I think I'm ready."

I watched her play out what seemed like an entire imaginary baseball game. Ganaha cheered along a couple of times.

"A giant, rotating mass of skillet-wielding man-woman maniacs in a boat!" Amazing-chan yelled.

MuraMako-chan gave her a look that said "where the heck did you get that?"

"Swimming!" Haruka-chan called. "Are you swimming?"

MuraMako-chan put a hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow. "Really, Haruka? You really can't figure it out?"

"SHH!" everyone hissed.

MuraMako-chan waved her hand at us. "Yeah, yeah…I know…"

"SHHH!" we hissed again.

She shook her head slowly, smiling slightly.

Demon General stood and straightened her tie. "You were playing baseball," she said.

MuraMako-chan pointed her out. "Yes! How did you guys not see that? And why did I have to go through so much before anyone even tried to guess?"

"MuraMako-chan looked so cool while acting it out, no one wanted to interrupt," I offered.

She blushed slightly. "You guys are embarrassing," she muttered. "Demon General, it's your turn."


	17. Chapter 16

XenoRitsu's POV

It was time for Demon General to perform her charades act. She strolled into the middle of the room, cleared her throat, and then knelt and got to work.

From what I could see, she was opening a drawer of some kind. "Opening a drawer?" I suggested.

She shook her head briskly. Then she started fiddling around in the air.

"A giant, mutated glass of melted soup in a canopy!" Sexy-chan shouted.

Demon General glared at her as if to tell her to "stop guessing such stupid answers".

"Is it?" Sexy-chan prompted. Demon General sighed and shook her head.

I watched her reach into her imaginary drawer, pull something out, and look at it quizzically before inserting it back into a different drawer.

"You're looking for a sandwich!" Yayoi-chan yelped.

Demon General heaved a great sigh and shook her head. She proceeded to lift things out of her imaginary drawer and place them back in.

"Are you…" Iori-chan trailed off. "A super-strict producer working very hard to show us what her impossible-to-interpret charades act is?"

Demon General was about to shake her head, but then she nodded with a laugh. "That's it, then? It was impossible to interpret after all. Do you give up?"

I nodded. A bunch of others did too. Since no one said "no" or shook their heads, Demon General nodded and shrugged.

"Well, I was organizing a file cabinet."

There was silence. Iori-chan laughed.

"THAT was your act? You are way too obsessed with your work," she sighed.

"Hoshii thinks Ritsuko…san—Hoshii means, Demon General! Demon General should pick something else. Something easy," Hoshii commented.

Demon General was thoughtful. "OK, how about this?" She grabbed something imaginary, twisted it, and then pulled.

"A GIANT, FROSTING-COVERED CATAPULT OF GREEN LIVERS!" Amazing-chan screamed. "YES!"

Demon General glared at her and shook her head.

"You're doin' the nipple twist?" Ganaha tried.

Demon General raised an eyebrow at her and frowned.

"OK, so that ain't it either…"

"Opening a door!" Mami-chan guessed. Demon General snapped her fingers and nodded.

"I hoped it'd be easy enough. Your turn," she invited Mami. Mami grinned and jumped into her place.

"Alright, I already know what I'm gonna do! You people ready?"

Everyone cheered (or rather, most people cheered). Mami nodded excitedly.

She reached out and grabbed something. She picked it up. She looked at it, turned it over in her hands, and shook her head. She put it back down and moved to another place in the room, repeating the process with another object. But this time, she nodded at the imaginary thing, smiled, and tucked it under her arm. She moved on.

"A giant, fluffy bottle of exploding ketchup!" Sexy-chan declared.

"Shopping?" Futami suggested.

Mami-chan nodded frantically at Futami. "Yep! I was shopping." She looked at Sexy-chan. "You were close."

Sexy-chan beamed and Futami walked over to a couch. She sat, lifted some kind of utensil-I could tell by the way she arranged her fingers in the air-and dipped it into something imaginary. Then she lifted the imaginary utensil and sipped on air.

"A giant…pineapple…surrounded by monkeys…in Antarctica!" Amazing-chan gasped.

Futami shook her head.

"Eating soup?" Penguin-chan guessed.

Futami shook her head again, then paused and wiggled her hand. She resumed her "eating".

"Eating cereal!" Miura-san exclaimed. "Futami-chan, are you eating cereal?"

Futami nodded. "Miura-san, you have already gone. Will you go again?" she asked politely.

Miura-san shook her head. "No, I think I'll give someone else a turn."

Sexy-chan flung her hand into the air. "Miura-san! Let Sexy-chan go!" she begged.

Miura-san laughed lightly. "Sure, go ahead."

iDOAmi's POV

It was my turn now, since Miura-san had given me her turn. I knew exactly what I was gonna do. I stood in the middle of the room and started to walk around the room in a circle, wiggling my arms.

"A giant, mass migration of squid people searching for a taxi!" Amazing-chan declared.

"Yep, that's exactly right!" I said. "Sexy-chan knew Amazing-chan would get it."

Amazing-chan took my place and sat on the floor. Then she started rocking back-and-forth.

"A child who is terrified of the dark?" Shijou suggested. Amazing-chan shook her head.

"A giant, rolling ball of sunscreen exploding underneath a bridge!" I announced.

Amazing-chan nodded and stood. "But Sexy-chan already went so she has to give up her place."

I nodded. "Then, Sexy-chan gives her place to…Chihaya-oneechan!"  
Chihaya-oneechan stood, walked briskly into the center of the stage, and grabbed something out of the air. She held it like some sort of gun. Then she poised herself to "shoot" and fired away.

"A giant, writhing underground tunnel of dormant volcano worms!" Amazing-chan guessed. Chihaya-oneechan glared at her and shook her head quickly.

"Shooting someone?" Yukiho-chan suggested. Chihaya-oneechan smiled at her.

"Good, you were able to guess it," she praised. "Yukiho, it's your turn."

XenoHaru's POV

It was Yukiho-chan's turn now. She took her place in the room ad frowned.

"Hm…what should I do?" she asked herself.

"Go, Yukiho-chan! I'm sure whatever you come up with will be wonderful so just think of something!" I cheered. Yukiho-chan smiled warmly at me.

"Thank you, Penguin-san. Um…I think I have something," she declared. She knelt down, held something in her hands, and gently pressed her index finger on her right hand down on some imaginary button.

"A giant, ant-filled carpenter's shop in Norway!" Sexy-chan laughed. "Sexy-chan knows she's right."

"Actually, you're wrong," Yukiho-chan informed her.

"SHH!" we hissed.

She nodded and got back to pressing her button, changing angles occasionally.

"Um…taking a picture?" I tipped my head.

"Yes, that was it," Yukiho-chan answered. "Penguin-san, you are the winner. Your turn."

I jumped up and ran to my spot while Yukiho-chan took her seat. "Yosh! I already know what to do!" Instantly I got down on my stomach, put my hands by my sides, and lay still.

"A giant, hard piece of orange wood in the garage of an evil witchdoctor!" Amazing-chan said.

I giggled and shook my head. I tried standing up, putting my hands by my sides, and waddling. _I have to show everyone I'm a penguin. They should be able to get it from this._

"Are you…a robot?" MuraMako tried. I shook my head and waddled some more.

"Um…a wind-up toy?" Yayoi-chan suggested. I shook my head again.

"A penguin!" Ganaha shouted. "Yo! Are ya a penguin?"

"Yup!" I exclaimed. "Ganaha, you go now!"


	18. Chapter 17

iDOChiha's POV

It was Ganaha's turn now in our game of charades. Personally, I found the game childish and a little annoying, but I had to admit it was very entertaining watching everyone's acts. Personally, I thought we should have been training. Singing. Not having a party for no reason. But Haruka looked so excited, and everyone kept telling me to loosen up—even my twin, Chihaya-san, had taken place in the game—so I figured I would participate.

I watched Ganaha take her place in the middle of the room and immediately drop to her hands and knees. She began to walk around the room like that, letting her tongue hang out of her mouth past her fang. Then she paused and scratched her ear with her foot, which I found impressively flexible.

"A giant, fire-breathing duck hydrant of dying animals!" Great-san grinned evilly.

Ganaha gasped. "H-how could ya suggest I'd be anythin' that had to do with killin' animals?!" she snapped.

"SHH!" everyone else hissed.

Ganaha sniffed and shook her head.

"A dog," I said quietly. "Ganaha, you are a dog, right?"

Ganaha leapt to her feet. "Bingo, that's the ticket! Your turn, Uta-chan."

I sighed. _Why take place in this if I can't sing? _I thought to myself. Then an idea hit me.

_My act will be something that can sing. A siren. I will be a siren, beautiful and deadly songstresses of the seas. But…how on Earth do I act that out?_

I decided to try sitting on a couch, pressing my legs together like a tail, and singing silently. I leaned on the couch and placed a hand on my throat. For added effect, I flicked my "tail" once or twice.

There was silence.

"A giant…marinated steak…full of maggots."

"No."

"SHH!"

I sighed and returned to my silent singing.

"Are you a mermaid, Uta-san?" Takane suggested.

I blinked and wiggled my hand a bit. _Close,_ I mouthed. She nodded slowly.

"A siren!" Haruka exclaimed. "Are you a siren, Uta-chan?"

I nodded at her and smiled slightly. "Haruka, it's your turn."

Haruka placed a finger on her lip and performed her famous nonowa face. "Um…ah, if Uta-chan actually were a siren, she would be a very beautiful one."

I blushed. "H-Haruka, don't say things like that," I muttered uncomfortably.

Haruka laughed nervously. "Sorry, Uta-chan…! I wanted to point it out…um, I think I know what to do." She took her place in the room, grabbed what looked like an imaginary stick, and started whacking the ground with it (technically, she seemed to be swinging it, but I thought it looked like whacking the ground).

"A giant, wacky stick of sexy dynamite on a jellyfish in the Pacific Ocean!" Amazing-san announced.

Haruka giggled and shook her head. She proceeded to lean down and pick something up, place it on the ground in front of her, and whack it with the stick.

"Whacking…a piñata?" Demon General guessed.

Haruka shook her head again. She watched the imaginary object fly into the distance, walked over to a new spot in the room, and whacked the object with her stick again.

"Haruka, what on Earth are you doing?" I sighed.

Haruka blinked. She kept whacking the object.

There was more silence.

"Golfing!"

Everyone turned to see who had answered and saw Yayoi-san sitting in her chair and kicking her feet. She had a huge smile on her face, obviously proud of her answer. She looked adorable.

"Haruka-san! Are you golfing? I think you're golfing." Yayoi-san nodded, apparently convinced she was right.

"Yep! That's it!" Haruka cheered.

"Yay! Haruka-san…high touch!" Yayoi-san ordered, holding her palm out to Haruka, who gave her a high touch, laughing. Yayoi-san didn't move from her seat. "U-uun! Here's my act! Are you all ready?"

Most of us nodded. Someone grunted.

"Geez, can't you say anything else?" I heard MuraMako sigh.

There was another, more irritated-sounding grunt, then silence.

"OK! Here I go," Yayoi-san declared after a moment. She positioned her hands in the air in front of her, straight out, and began to move them up and down. Her foot was poised on some kind of imaginary lever. She pushed down on it, then lifted her foot, waited a few moments, and pushed again.

"A giant, fleshy bag of rice in a palm tree!" Great-san said.

Yayoi-san giggled and shook her head.

"Driving," Ritsuko-san wondered aloud.

Yayoi-san jumped up. "Ritsuko-san! High touch!"

Ritsuko-san obliged. "My turn, right? OK." She took her place in the center of the room. "Everyone ready?"

DoppelMiki's POV

I yawned, stretching. "Miki just woke up…hey Hoshii, who won?" I asked Hoshii. She looked down at me.

"Nobody won," she informed me. "It's Ritsuko…san's turn now."

I nodded, looking out to watch. Ritsuko was in the middle of the room. She opened something in the air and looked at it.

"Reading a book," Minase declared immediately.

Ritsuko looked at her. "You guessed it that easily?"

"Ritsuko's act was really easy to guess. Even Miki thought so," I said. "Forehead girl Minase, it's your turn."

"Don't call me that," Minase huffed. "I know what I'm doing already." She picked up something in the air, lifted it to her mouth, and then lowered it.

"A giant, liquid-sucking vat of robotic tentacle cupcakes forming into an abyss!" Amazing-chan cried.

Minase rolled her eyes. Then she shook her head and lifted the thing to her mouth again.

"Drinking?" I guessed.

"Kinda, but…I'm drinking something specific," Minase answered.

"SHH!" we hissed.

She heaved a great sigh and drank her invisible drink some more.

"Drinking…juice?" Haruka guessed.

"Drinking ramen," Shijou tried.

"Shijou, you can't drink ramen," Ganaha sighed.

Minase shook her head.

"None of those were right? OK…drinking water!" Haruka tried again.

Minase shook her head.

"Drinking milk," Azusa-san murmured. "Minase. You were drinking milk, correct? Or maybe it was…tea."

"It was milk," Minase replied. "Azusa-san, your turn."

Azusa-san nodded and took her spot at a table.

iDOMako's POV

It was Azusa-san's turn now. To be honest, I was kind of glad, because if she was going that probably meant AoMako would at least try to guess her act, and I was sick of sitting here listening to her be completely silent. Azusa-san picked up a fork from the table and started eating imaginary food with it. Then she put the fork down and picked up a different imaginary food and took a bite.

"Eating a sandwich…?" Futami questioned.

Azusa-san nodded slowly. "Well…you see, I'm eating something extremely specific. Is that OK?" she asked Miura-san.

"Yes, as long as someone guesses it," Miura-san answered. "If no one can figure it out you'll have to pick something else."

Azusa-san smiled slightly. "I think I know someone who can guess it," she said. Then she turned back to her eating.

"Are you…eating a very specific lunch?" I asked her.

She chuckled and nodded. "Yes. But I want to see if anyone can guess the specific lunch I'm eating."

"SHH!" everyone else hissed.

Azusa-san nodded again and continued eating her specific lunch. I turned to AoMako.

"Aren't you gonna guess?"

She nodded. "But I want to wait and see if anyone else gets it."

I laughed. "You honestly expect anyone else to figure it out? I think you're the only person in this room—maybe even the world—who pays close enough attention. Doesn't she have some kind of usual lunch or something?"

AoMako shrugged. "Kind of."

"Then guess that."

"Not yet."

Miura-san raised her hand. "Eating…a turkey sandwich, salad, and drinking…orange juice?"

Azusa-san shook her head.

"A giant, swirly buffet of flying pigs on rollerblades suffocating a stalker!" Sexy-chan yelped.

Azusa-san chuckled. She shook her head.

"A roast beef sandwich with a side of potatoes and drinking strawberry milk?" Yukiho guessed.

"It's milk, but not strawberry."

"SHH!"

"Ham sandwich, side of fruit, and regular milk," Chihaya tried.

Azusa-san shook her head.

AoMako shifted in her seat. "You're eating a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread with dijonaisse and cranberry chutney with a side of mandarin oranges—which, by the way, Onee-chan, you're eating with a salad fork—and drinking chocolate milk."

Azusa-san grinned and nodded. "I figured you would get it," she admitted. "Correct. That was my specific lunch. I was eating my oranges with the wrong fork?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, my mistake…" Azusa-san stood. I clapped once.

"Congratulations, you actually spoke more then four words!" I joked to AoMako, who grunted at me. I frowned. "Can't you say anything else?"

"I have a perfectly expanded vocabulary, I just don't feel like wasting it on you people."

I sighed. "How sweet are you," I muttered. "C'mon, you're talking to yourself here, don't forget. Technically you just said you don't like talking to yourself."

She sighed back. "Whatever. Are we done here yet?"

"Nope," I answered. "Now it's your turn."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're kidding, right?"

I shook my head. "One-hundred percent serious."

There was a period of silence.

"No."

I moaned. "Everyone had to do it. You can't get out of this."

"No way."

"Uta-chan had to do it, and she hates wasting time."

"No way."

"Shijou did it and she's really serious."

"Too bad. I'm not doing this."

"Chihaya did it. Yukiho did it. I did it."

"Why should I care?"

Azusa-san came and knelt in front of her. "Makoto-chan, it wouldn't be any fair if you were the only one who didn't participate," she said warmly.

AoMako's eyes softened just a little.

_Now we've got her, _I thought gleefully. _There's no way she can turn down Azusa-san. I wonder what she'll end up doing?_

There was more silence. Then…

"No way. Not even for you, Onee-chan."

I moaned again.

Minase jumped to her feet. "For crying out loud, Makoto, just get the heck up here and do something before I make you! Everyone else had to do it. NOW GO."

AoMako glared at her, but then she sighed and gave in. "Fine! But I'm not doing anything weird."

I nodded. "That's fine. Just do something," I ordered. I watched her step into the middle of the room…then she crossed her arms and did nothing else.

I looked at Azusa-san. "Has she always been like this?" I wondered aloud.

"Not always. When she was young she used to smile all the time-"

"Her smiling? I'd like to see that."

"Are you a Makoto-chan?" Yukipyon asked. I couldn't help but smile.

AoMako shook her head.

"I-I think you look like a Makoto-chan…but OK."

Azusa-san looked around, then leaned in towards my ear. "You know…Makoto-chan really loves crabs."

I blinked. "Crabs, huh…?"

"Are YOU a statue?" Hibiki questioned.

AoMako paused, then shook her head.

"Yes, crabs. If you want to see her smile, try taking her to an aquarium or the beach, and find the crabs," Azusa-san whispered. "I'm telling you this, but don't tell her I said anything, OK?"

I nodded. "Cross my heart," I whispered back. "Crabs…I have to remember that…"

"A GIANT, EXPLODING BOX OF INFLATABLE MIGRAINS SEWN INTO A WOMAN'S BREAST!" Amazing-chan and Sexy-chan yelled at the same time.

More silence.

"Sure," AoMako agreed. "Why not."

"AMAZING-CHAN KNEW IT!" Amazing-chan laughed.

"SEXY-CHAN KNEW IT ALSO!"

I looked over at AoMako. She plopped down on the couch next to me. I decided to use this opportunity to invite her to do something. _Maybe something that has to do with crabs. So I can actually get myself to smile already._

"Wanna go to an aquarium?"

**(Author's Note: Don't expect the chapter on the Makotos actually GOING** **to an aquarium any time soon. I have other bonding moments to do (the Yayois, the Azusas, and the Ioris never got theirs eiher) so I'll be doing those first.) **


	19. Chapter 18

XenoIo's POV

"Bored," I announced, sitting on a couch in the agency the next day. Me and Iori-chan were playing a game, going back and forth saying one word to describe us. "Your turn."

"Perfect," Iori-chan sighed. "But yes, I'm bored too. We should do something."

"We are doing something. Awesome." I paused. "I guess you meant something else, huh?"

"Yes, something…special, you know? Rich."

"Didn't you already use that one?"

"No, I did 'beautiful', 'smart', 'underestimated', 'perfect', and now 'rich'."

"Oh yeah," I agreed. "Do you have any ideas?" I paused. "Confused."

"Yes, I do. Excited," Iori-chan responded. "We should go out for a ride on a big, expensive, fancy boat. I can have a limo take us there."

"Traveling in style? Sounds great! Anticipating," I added.

"Then, let's go! Brilliant."

"Iori-chan, smart and brilliant mean the same thing. I win."

"Th-that's not fair!"

Iori-chan called her father and had him send a limo to the agency to pick us up. When the limo arrived, I heard the horn beep three times. Iori-chan grinned.

"He's here," she declared. "Come, come! Let us enjoy ourselves away from these idiots, those freaks, and the small amount of people I like that, unfortunately, can not come because they aren't amazing enough."

iDOIo's POV

I led Minase-chan down to the limo we were taking and the had it take us to the dock where my father's boat was waiting. The captain turned to us and smiled.

"Iori-chan, good afternoon," he greeted. "Your father told me you were taking a friend out on the boat, so I came here to get it ready."

I smiled back and nodded. "Thank you, Sir. This is…" I trailed off. _This is me. But if I tell him that, what will he think?_

I exchanged a glance with Minase-chan. "Um…this is my friend."

"What's her name?" the captain asked.

"It's…." I paused.

"Min," Minase-chan finished. "Um…my name…is Min. Kagayaki Min."

"Nice to meet you, Min-chan," the captain said fondly. "Come on up. We'll set sail right away."

Minase-chan strolled with me onto the boat and took a seat. We set off through the waters a few minutes later. Minase-chan let out a contented sigh beside me.

"Wow, this is relaxing!" she exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever been out on a boat like this before. It's nice."

"Isn't it?" I laughed. "Minase-chan, you are welcome to come out on a boat with me whenever you like."

"At least until we go home," Minase-chan muttered. "Iori-chan, you can't seriously expect that we're going to stay here for much longer, can you?"

I stiffened. _They're not staying, _I suddenly realized. _All this time, I'd forgotten they didn't belong here! Minase-chan fits right in. _I nodded slowly. "I hadn't thought about that," I admitted. "Well, it's not really a problem! I have a mansion. I'm sure there's an extra room. You shall just have to stay with the great Iori-chan, hm? Aren't you lucky? Nihihi!"

"I can't stay, Iori-chan." Minase-chan looked over the side of the boat. "I just can't. I'm sorry."

I stared at her for a while. It was obvious that she was really upset about having to leave.

"It's OK," I assured her. "I mean, I'm Iori-chan! I'll get on fine without you…" I trailed off. "But I really will miss you."

Minase-chan nodded. "I'll miss you too. You're really cool, you know that?"

I blinked. "Am I cute? Smart? Perfect?"

Minase-chan laughed. "You sure are, Iori-chan. That means I am too, right? Since we're kinda the same person." She sniffed. "Take that, stupid cosplay actor! I'm perfect!"

I laughed also. "Of course you are. You're me, after all."

We spent the rest of the day chatting and laughing together. For the first time I realized how desperately I wanted Minase-chan to stay here.


	20. Chapter 19

iDOAzu's POV

It had been decided early in the morning that Azusa-san and I would go for a walk. Although I wasn't sure if taking her on a walk was exactly the best idea considering my bad sense of direction, I figured it would be a great opportunity to get to know her a little better. I wanted to take her down to a park downtown that I'd grown up going to. So we left early in the morning, and I tried to properly guide us towards the park.

I failed.

After only minutes, we were hopelessly lost.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely to Azusa-san. "I thought I knew where I was going…"

Azusa-san chuckled. "It's fine," she insisted. "You warned me before we left that this would probably happen. I was prepared."

I placed my face in my hand. "I'm glad you're OK with this, but…" I paused. "Look, Azusa-san! It's This Restaurant! I love that restaurant!"

Azusa-san turned and seemed to notice the restaurant for the first time. "It's actually called This Restaurant?"

"Yes, and it's amazing! We have to go eat there now!" I rushed towards This Restaurant happily, Azusa-san trailing behind me. Together, we walked into the restaurant.

The man at the counter examined us. "Table for two?" he confirmed, and I nodded. He smiled. "Alright. A waiter will be right with you."

"Why is it called This Restaurant?" Azusa-san asked me. "Were the owners…very un-creative…or something?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but the Stuff is really good. You should try it."

At that moment, a young man rounded the corner and paused in front of us. "OK, if you'll follow me…" He paused. "Oh hey, it's Azusa! Miura Azusa, right? Long time no see."

I grinned. "Nice to see you again, Logan. Oh…Logan, this is my twin sister!" I squealed. Azusa-san and I had already decided that if we ran into people I knew, Azusa-san would be known as Asuka, my twin sister who was visiting for the week.

"That's cool. It's nice to meet you," Logan said, holding out a hand to Azusa-san, who shook it gently. "Oh, hey, I'll try to make sure Bob doesn't bother you two. OK?"

"I don't mind him much," I admitted. "He just needs some love."

"He just needs some duct tap across his mouth," Logan corrected me. "Alright. Table for two, right this way."

"By the way, how's work at…all those other places you work at going?" I asked suddenly.

"Am I missing something here?" Azusa-san whispered to me.

I giggled. "Logan's an old friend."

She nodded and took her seat.

"Thanks for asking. Actually, it's been going pretty well. I ran into Jasper in That One Place with the Depressed People the other day. Poor kid," Logan answered. "What's your sister's name, anyway?"

"Asuka," Azusa-san answered. "Miura Asuka."

"Azusa and Asuka," Logan murmured. He nodded slowly. "Alright, cool. Well, if you need anything, you know how to find me." He gave a friendly wave and then headed off.

I glanced at Azusa-san, who looked a little confused. "Oh…that was Logan. He's a good friend. He works almost everywhere," I laughed. "I'm sorry. You must have felt a little lost."

"It's alright. I certainly don't mind you conversing with your friends," Azusa-san promised. "Miura-san, what are you going to get?"

"Something," I answered promptly.

"Oh. So, you haven't decided?"

"No, I have decided. I'm getting the Something. Azusa-san, you should try the Fish and Stuff. It's very good."

Azusa-san blinked and looked down at her menu. "Fish…and Stuff? What is it?"

"Well…" I blinked back. "It's fish…and stuff."

"…what is the stuff?"

"Um…it's…stuff."

Azusa-san nodded slowly. "Er…is it good?"

I nodded. "Delicious."

XenoAzu's POV

I stared down at the food on my plate. Half of it was definitely fish, but I had no idea what the rest of it was. I looked over at Miura-san, who was busily and happily devouring her Something. I couldn't even tell what it was. Finally, I decided to just start by eating the fish. Fish was certainly safe.

The waiter called Logan approached us now. "How are you guys…sorry, you ladies. How are you ladies enjoying your food?" he asked politely.

"I have a question," I stated. Logan nodded at me. "What exactly is this Stuff?"

Logan blinked. "Well, you see…it's stuff."

"But what is it?"

"I have no idea. I just know it's stuff."

I sighed. "That isn't very assuring."

Miura-san laughed. "I've been eating at This Restaurant for years. Believe me when I say it is perfectly safe. Just try it."

Giving in with a sigh, I stabbed my fork into the Stuff on my plate, lifted it to my mouth, and took a bite.

And it was probably the most delicious thing I had ever tasted.

I looked over at Miura-san, still eating away at her Something. "Is all the food here this tasty?" I gasped.

Miura-san nodded. "Isn't it good?"

"It's more then good! It's…fantastic! Splendid! Phenomenal! It's…what is it?"

Logan shrugged. "No one knows," he commented. "Anyways, I have other tables to attend to. Please enjoy the food. And call if you need anything." With that, he was off again to another table.

I took another bite of the Stuff. I let it sit in my mouth for a while and simply savored the taste. _Delicious. Whatever it is, it's absolutely delicious._ I decided This Restaurant was my new favorite restaurant.

"Miura-san, you said you come here often," I realized. "Then…could you take me here again some day?"

Miura-san was silent. "If you don't leave too soon," she said with a smile. I could sense the regret in her words.

I nodded slowly. "That's right. I have to go home soon…" I trailed off.

"Yes. And I will miss you so much, Azusa-san," Miura-san murmured. "I've grown quite fond of you."

"That's normal, considering I am you," I responded pleasantly. "But yes, I've grown fond of you too. I'll miss you when we have to go." I looked over at a small group of teenagers, laughing and eating and sharing their stories. "I just hope the others can say the same about each other when they say goodbye."

Miura-san followed my gaze and smiled. "I'm a little worried for the Chihaya-chans. And for the Ritsuko-sans. The Ami-chans and Makoto-chans are awfully different too."

I sighed. "I'm just glad we're friends."

Miura-san nodded and clapped her hands together. "Yes, yes we are! You and I are friends!"

For the rest of our meal, Miura-san and I planned ways we could connect the other twins to each other…and ways we could keep in touch when we left. Then, just as we were leaving, a thought hit me.

"Miura-san!"

Miura-san blinked. "Yes?"

"I'm not supposed to be alive!"

Miura-san's pleasant smile faded and she dropped her purse. Yen coins rolled around and I bent to pick them up for her, still thinking about my stunning realization.

"In your world…you're dead…" Miura-san breathed. I stood and handed her purse to her, and she took it slowly. "You and Chihaya-chan are dead."

I nodded. "So when I return to my world…"

"…you will die again," Miura-san finished. She smiled bitterly. "Yes, that's true. When you leave us, you'll really be leaving us. And Chihaya-chan too."

"Makoto," I began, "when I leave here I'll have to leave Makoto again. I'll lose Chihaya again. I'll lose you, and Ritsuko, and…I'll die."

Miura-san nodded again and handed the correct amount of yen to the very confused-looking man at the counter, then we left and started the walk home.

"Azusa-san, I think I know what to do."

I looked over at Miura-san, who smiled. "What?"

"You just have to spend as much time as you possibly can with the people of this world until it's time to go. That way, you can store up memories before you die again," Miura-san declared. "It's the only solution I can think of."

I looked straight ahead again. "You're right," I commented. "…thank you, Miura-san. Thank you."

Miura-san's smile brightened and she took hold of my hand. "You're welcome, Miura-san. Thank you for coming here."

**(Author's Note: This Restaurant, Logan, and Jasper are all inside jokes betwixt me, my sister Jo, and anyone else who has ever played The Game with us. Logan was given a cameo appearance (I think that's the right word) since he works at This Restaurant. Me and Jo's OCs will be getting more cameos in this story later. Don't be confused if you don't understand the true hilarity of the jokes when they do. I would also like to apologize for the length of Iori's chapter last time, I had total writer's block and didn't really know what to do with her, whereas with Azusa I knew EXACTLY what to do. Yeah. OK. Author OUT.)**


	21. Chapter 20

DoppelHibi's POV

"Lookit the cows!"

"Lookit the pigs!"

"Lookit the llama!"

"Hibiki, that's an alpaca…"

I grinned sheepishly. "Right. They jus' look so similar-like and such."

Ganaha nodded and smiled. "'Ey, it's no problemo! Even I get 'em mixed up sometimes."

Since early in the morning, Ganaha and I had been at the zoo, checking out all the cool animals. After a long time of meandering around the site, we'd found ourselves at the petting zoo. Ganaha was spending a lot of time by the horses, and I was sitting with the goats.

Ganaha grinned. "Ain't this place just the greatest?" she asked me. I nodded.

"It sure is. So many cute little animals…" I sighed wistfully. "Not that I don't have enough at home."

"Ya can never have enough at home!" Ganaha gasped. "Not when it comes to animals. All animals're friends an' ya can never have enough friends."

I laughed. "I s'pose you're right," I admitted. "I'd love to own a cow."

"I'd want an alpaca. An' a cow. An' a chicken. An' a pig. An' a-"

"I think you've proven your point, Ganaha," I interrupted.

Ganaha laughed. "Yeah, I probably have," she agreed. "Ah well. So, what's your favorite animal, Hibiki?"

I shrugged. "Cats, I think. An' birds. An' moose. I like moose," I added. "What about ya?"

Ganaha gasped loudly. "You're tryin' to make me CHOOSE a favorite animal?!" she cried. "I can't choose favorites! They're all…jus' fantabulous!"

I blinked. "Ya told me to pick a favorite."

"I didn't know ya were gonna actually be able to pick one! An' I didn't know you'd make me pick one!"

"Calm down!" I ordered. Ganaha whimpered a bit but didn't say anything else. "I love all animals, don't get me wrong. But there're jus' some I like more then others. Y'know?"

"No," Ganaha stated simply. "OK, well, enough 'bout that. What about your favorite food?"

I shrugged again. "Anythin' Okinawan. An' bean buns. Beans buns're delicious, yo."

"Ugyaa, I totally agree 'bout the Okinawan food thingy. Okinawan food's delicious."

"All food is delicious."

"All animals are beautiful," Ganaha pouted. "But nah, ya had to pick favorites!"

I sighed and petted the friendly goat kid in front of me. "Sorry," I muttered.

Ganaha shook her head and played with the horses. "Nah, I'm pushin' it. It really ain't that big o' a deal."

"Ya sure?" I questioned her.

She smiled and nodded. "Yup! No problemo!"

iDOHibi's POV

I didn't consider it a falling out or anything.

After all, it shouldn't bother me that my twin was able to pick a favorite animal, right? Lots of people had favorites. For instance, Uta-chan was rather fond of birds, Shijou liked pretty much anything except for snakes, Miura-san had a dog, and Hoshii liked cats. But for me, it almost seemed unnatural to even think about developing a favorite.

I had always loved my pets, my family. All of them were equally important. As I was thinking this, I reached a hand up to Hamuzou, my hamster, who was seated on my shoulder, and gave him a quick pat.

"Ya seem real fond o' that there hamster," Hibiki called to me.

I nodded. "This here's Hamuzou. He's part o' the family back home I bring 'im out with me a lot so he can experience the outside world and all that stuff," I explained. Hibiki came over to me and we walked to the alpaca together.

"He's cute," she said brightly. "Hamuzou, that is. Well, this alpaca's cute too, but…yeah."

"I know," I stated proudly. Hamuzou straightened on my shoulder a little and seemed to grin in pride.

Hibiki laughed. "Aw, lookit 'im! It's like he understands us!"

"'Cause he does," I announced.

"Wow!" Hibiki exclaimed. "That's amazin'! How'd ya teach 'im to do that?"  
I shrugged. "He jus' kinda picked it up, I guess," I commented.

Hibiki nodded slowly. "So, is he like…your favorite pet?"

I gasped for what seemed like the thirteenth time this hour.

"O' course he ain't!" I shouted, louder then I meant to. A couple people turned to stare at us. Hamuzou himself drooped a little and squeaked in annoyance. I patted him lovingly. "It ain't that I don't love my little Hamuzou to bits an' pieces, but I love 'em all the same."

Hibiki waved her hands in surrender. "OK, OK, I get it. Sorry for bringin' it up," she mumbled.

I sighed and threw an arm across her shoulders. "Don't worry 'bout it," I insisted. "It ain't a problem, really. I ain't mad at ya."

Hibiki smiled. "Thanks. I'm glad ya ain't mad." She folded her hands behind her head and I pulled my arm off her shoulders. "'Ey, Ganaha, you're super cool, ya know that?"

I smiled warmly. "Thanks. You're super cool too, Hibiki," I responded.

"Sorry for tryin' to make ya pick a favorite animal."

"Sorry for makin' such a big deal out o' it."

"Sorry for suggestin' ya had a favorite pet!"

"Sorry for makin' ya feel like ya had to apologize for all this!"

"Sorry for makin' ya feel like ya gotta apologize for my apologies…!"

"Sorry for…somethin' else…!"

Hibiki laughed loudly and I joined in, putting an arm on her shoulder to steady myself. Hibiki wiped a tear from her eye and I gave her a big hug. She hugged me back.

"We're freaks, ain't we?" She chuckled, the laughter finally starting to die down.

I nodded. "Maybe, but we're cute, awesome super-freaks, so it's all good, yo," I assured her. She released me and I pulled back from the hug.

"Y'know how all those other twin people are gonna be goin' home?" Hibiki asked me.

I nodded. "Wait…ya ain't goin' home too, are ya?" I asked, the idea just hitting me. _Maybe Hibki's gotta go home too. After all, I'm sure she's gotta family, an' I'm sure they miss 'er a lot…_

But Hibiki was grinning. "Nah, Miki, Takane and I don't gotta go anywhere! So we can stay with ya people!"

I beamed. "So you're stayin'?"

"Yup!"

I let out a breath of relief. "That's good," I said fondly. "'Cause ya rock. Hard. So I'd hate havin' to say goodbye."

Hibiki smiled back and tipped her head, smiling. "Yup! I'd hate leavin' ya too!"

I reached over and hooked my arm around hers, and for the rest of the day we strolled around, looking at all the different animals. Right before we went home, Hibiki asked me one more question:

"Are ya sure ya don't have a favorite animal? 'Cause there were some pretty darn cute animals in there. How 'bout gators? Aren't gators cute?"

"Hibiki, I own a gator. An' he's gorgeous. An' I don't gotta favorite. So _stop suggestin' it_."

"'Kay."


	22. Chapter 21

XenoYayoi's POV

Yayoi-chan had taken me to her house.

Apparently she was convinced that I loved small children. Which, I do...sort of. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I didn't like—um, my—siblings, but they were awfully rowdy. I watched Yayoi-chan gently scold the second youngest brother, and then she gave him a smile and a pat of the shoulder and sent him off. She walked over to me, carrying the youngest child in her arms, and grinned.

"Aren't they cute? This is my family. I love them so much. The second oldest is Chousuke over there, and that's Kasumi, and that little one is Koji, and this right here is…."

I listened to her ramble on about her family and siblings for a while. I thought it was adorable, the way she cared for them so deeply. But eventually the time came when I had to interrupt.

"And then this one time, Chousuke ran away from home and I was so worried, but Iori-chan found him and brought him back! Wasn't that sweet of her? It turns out he had been hiding in the shed, which I think makes perfect sense-"

"Yayoi-chan!" I cut in, slightly exasperated. "Yayoi-chan, you promised me we'd go out and do something fun today…"

Yayoi-chan blinked, still grinning. "I think spending time with family is really fun," she commented. "Star-chan, you don't think so?"

"It's not that I don't love your family," I assured her. "But I was kinda thinking…you know, a coffee shop, or…"

"We should take my siblings to that orphanage coffee shop down the street!" Yayoi-chan gasped. "Star-chan, do you think that's a good idea?"

I grinned. "Sure, sounds fun! But what do you mean, 'orphanage coffee shop'?"

"That's easy. It's a coffee shop that's owned and operated by the local orphanage as a way for the orphanage to raise money," Yayoi-chan explained. "What do you say we go?"

With such an enormous smile stuck on Yayoi-chan's face, there was no way I could say no. Even if it meant bringing all five of her siblings along for the ride.

And I had a feeing I'd be paying for all seven of us.

iDOYayoi's POV

I was so excited that Star-chan had agreed to let me take my siblings with us to the coffee shop. She even offered to pay, although I think she just did that because she had a feeling I would ask her to anyways. After all, Star-chan worked as a radio star in her world, and despite the fact that I was an idol, most of my earnings were put towards food and other necessities for the family, and because of that I couldn't afford a random and frivolous trip to a coffee shop for seven.

I was holding the youngest child in my arms still, and Kasumi and Chousuke each had one child in their hand. I paused for a moment.

"Star-chan, wait a minute!" I called to the star-costume-clad girl in front of me. She paused, at least three meters ahead, and returned to me.

"What's up?" she prompted.

I jerked my head back towards Kasumi and Koji, who were still in the process of catching up. Star-chan nodded.

"Want me to walk with them?" she asked. "You can take this little guy and go get us a table, and I'll walk with the rest of them."

I smiled. "Thank you, Star-chan! Please, don't let them out of your sight and be sure to walk right next to them if you cross the street. Don't go too fast," I added. Star-chan nodded.

"I got it, don't worry. Now go reserve us a spot before they run out of tables!"

I blinked, startled. "R-right!" I stammered, hading off towards the coffee shop with the youngest child bouncing slightly in my arms. I slowed my pace to steady him. When we reached the entrance, I turned around to check on Star-chan and the rest of my family.

She had taken Chousuke's hand in one of hers and Kasumi's in the other, and was slowly leading them-and the other two—towards the coffee shop. I heard her make small talk, and then the two younger children started to laugh. Kasumi giggled and Chousuke was smiling. Reassured, I stepped inside the building and found a group of two tables I could pull together to make room for seven.

I placed my youngest sibling on one of the high chairs and moved it to the first table. By the time I had finished joining the two tables, Star-chan and the others had arrived. I smiled.

"Thank you for walking with them, Star-chan!" I exclaimed cheerfully. Star-chan grinned back and led the remaining four members of my family to the tables, letting them pick their own seats.

"It was no problem, really. You have cute siblings," she praised. I smiled and took a seat.

"Aren't they? I don't like to brag, but I have the cutest family ever," I announced triumphantly.

Star-chan laughed and my siblings flashed proud smiles.

"You sure do," Star-chan agreed. "OK, so what do you all wanna get? It's on me, so get whatever you like. Ah…that is, try not to get something too expensive since there are seven of us, but you can get a little more then you usually do…!"

"I want a blueberry muffin!" Kasumi squeaked. "Onee-chan, can I get a blueberry muffin?"

"Sure you can," I answered. "As long as it isn't too expensive. We have to be nice to Star-chan and show our gratitude by ordering moderately cheap things. OK?"

Star-chan waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, get whatever you like," she insisted. After a pause, she added, "As long as it's under three-thousand yen. Does that seem fair?"

"Three-thousand yen is a lot," I commented. "Especially for seven of us. How about one-thousand yen instead?"

Star-chan stared at me. "Two-thousand," she stated.

"One-thousand-five-hundred," I countered.

"Deal. Kids, your budget is one-thousand-five-hundred yen."

"Onee-chan, what's a budget?" Koji asked me.

"It's the total amount of money we can afford to spend," I told him. "Or…it's something like that. Star-chan, did I explain it well enough?"

Star-chan nodded. "I understood you."

Koji nodded and looked up at the menu hanging over the counter. "I think we should get some coffee for the baby," he declared. "Is that a good idea or what, Yayoi-neechan?"

I laughed nervously. "It might be a bad idea for any of us to get coffee," I warned. "Especially the baby."

"But this is a coffee shop," Koji whined.

"Yes, but coffee has caffeine, and if you drink too much caffeine you'll never be able to go to sleep tonight or take a nap in the afternoon."

"Caffeine makes you crazy!" Star-chan cut in. "It's like, this one time I had like, six cups of coffee, and then I was bouncing-off-the-walls crazy! I couldn't get to sleep for three weeks! And then, _then_, since I was so tired from not getting sleep, I had to have MORE coffee which was a really bad idea because then I got even _less_ sleep!"

There was silence at the table. Then Koji spoke up.

"Can I please get coffee? Coffee sounds fun."

"No. No coffee for you. Please just get a scone or a muffin."

"Pleeaasse?"

"No, Koji. I'm sorry, but I can't handle a house full of hyper children tonight and it wouldn't be fair to Star-chan if I let you get coffee and a snack."

"…can I just get coffee and no snack?"

"_No_."

Star-chan chuckled. "Sorry kids, but what your Onee-chan says goes. No coffee for you," she sighed.

I smiled sympathetically and the "aw"-ing children at the table. "Sorry, guys. I love you and you know I'd let you if I could, but I can't afford to have you all hyper tonight."

"I'll just have a cherry scone," Chousuke said, shrugging. "That's OK, right?"

"Of course."

Star-chan stood. "OK, so, a blueberry muffin for Kasumi, a cherry scone for Chousuke…milk for the baby?"

I nodded.

"And a giant, sugar-coated donut for Koji!" Koji laughed.

I sighed, giving in. "Alright. And the rest of you?"

"Chocolate muffin!"

"Just a glass of tea, please…"

Star-chan nodded and went off to get the food. When she returned, there was an extra donut in her hand. She put it down in front of me. I grinned.

"How'd you know I wanted a donut?" I asked.

Star-chan shrugged. "'Cause…you're me?" She nodded. "I love donuts so I figured you loved them too. I'm gonna miss being able to read your mind when I go."

My bright grin faded as Star-chan delivered the rest of the food and then took her seat. "Right," I muttered, pausing. "…you're leaving."

"Yep! So, I'll be forced to go back to my world with just Haruka and Sunshine Forehead to keep me company."

I could almost hear Minase-chan screaming at her to "stop calling me Sunshine Forehead, you stupid cosplay actor!"

"And I'm gonna miss you a lot."

I nodded slowly. "I'm really going to miss you too, Star-chan," I murmured. "Couldn't you stay? I'm sure I could find room for you at my house, and-"

"Nah, I really should go home to my world," Star-chan interrupted. "I'm sorry. I'd like to stay."

I stood and approached her. "Then…will you do me one last favor?"

"You don't want me to massage your feet or anything, do you?"

"Huh? No…I just want a high touch."

"Oh. Yep, I can do that."

Happily, I held out my hand and Star-chan gave me a high touch. Smiling and put significantly more at-ease, I returned to my seat. And for the rest of the day, we ate, talked, and returned home hand-in-hand.

On that day, I realized how much I loved Star-chan, and how much I would miss her when she left.

**(Author's Note: I kinda feel like I made the focus of this chapter too much on Yayoi and her family and less on Yayoi and her twin. Ah well. I liked writing this chapter but not as much as I'm going to adore the Makoto chapter that comes next. I apologize in advance for the length of it, because we all know Makoto's chapter is going to be longest. ...well, at least until the Secret Special Bonus Chapter Group. **

**Anyways.**

**Thanks for the support! I love all my readers and all of you who support this. It makes me so happy to know that this work has gotten positive attention despite the fact that only, like, two people read it XD Thank you! And until next time, this has been Fun. With Grace~desu. ~*~)**


	23. Chapter 22

XenoMako's POV

"No."

"C'mon, just one day?"

"No way."

"But it'll be fun! I promise!"

"Why on Earth should I trust you?"

"Because…I'm you, maybe?"

"No."

"You're a jerk!"

"And you're an idiot."

We'd been going back-and-forth like this for at least half an hour. MuraMako was obviously convinced that taking me to the aquarium was the greatest idea ever. I, on the other hand, would much rather sit at home and do nothing. It was a little funny, at some points—I'd gotten her to resort to begging, whining, and, most recently, asking Onee-chan for help. None of it worked.

She seemed to be trying pouting now.

"Come oooon! It's gonna be fun and you're missing out! Plus nobody likes jerks," she sighed.

I shrugged. "No one likes idiots either. And that includes me," I told her, hoping she'd get the hint and just leave me alone. Which, of course, was too much to hope for.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're an idiot. Go away."

"I am not an idiot. And I'm not going to go away."

"You're both idiots!" Iori suddenly shouted. "Now for crying out loud, just do something with your lives instead of sitting there snapping at each other! You're giving me a headache!"

From the corner of my vision, I saw Onee-chan nodding to show she agreed. I looked back over at MuraMako. She raised an eyebrow, as if she was asking me to just give in and go with her already.

There was silence. Iori muttered something and turned back to whatever she'd been doing. Yukipyon walked over to MuraMako and they exchanged a few words, then Yukipyon left again. I watched her go.

"She's your best friend, right?" I prompted.

MuraMako nodded. "Yeah. So?"

"So just go with her."

"I don't want to. Besides, Yukipyon is scared of crabs."

I blinked. "Did you say…crabs?"

A smirk formed on MuraMako's face. "Yeah, I sure did. They just opened up this new exhibit at the aquarium with a ton of them. You can touch them and everything. I would take Yukipyon, but she's scared they'd try to pinch her finger off or something," she explained.

"They only do that if they feel threatened," I scoffed. "If you handle them correctly then they'll never hurt you."

MuraMako took a seat on the couch next to me. "You seem to know an awful lot," she commented.

I shrugged again. "It's common knowledge. You're just an idiot."

"Maybe so, but still…" MuraMako trailed off. "Come on. You want to go see them, don't you?"  
I blinked. "Maybe," I muttered. _Is she trying to bribe me into it or something? Why can't she just go away?_

"Then you should go with me to the aquarium," MuraMako declared. "See? It makes sense. I may be stupid, but at least I'm not dumb."

"That's what stupid means, stupid."

"No it doesn't. Wait…what?"

I groaned in annoyance. "OK, if I agree to go with you, will you agree never to talk to me again for the rest of our lives?" I asked her.

MuraMako grinned and jumped up again. "I knew you'd agree eventually! OK, then, I'll never talk to you again as long as I live after today. Sound fair?"

I nodded curtly. "Fine."

iDOMako's POV

I knew this had been a bad idea the second our taxi driver was female.

It hadn't occurred to me that going out in public without a disguise would be so life-threatening, but what I'd forgotten was that now, there were two of me. Two Kikuchi Makotos. Which meant that right about now, I guessed the one-hundred-thirty-something fangirls blocking our way were having some sort of wild fantasy about twin Prince Makotos.

And poor AoMako had unwillingly been brought into it.

One of them I recognized. She was a little older then the others, probably in her late twenties, and she had long brown hair. She was usually involved in any crowd of females that wound up chasing me. The rest of them were just random fangirls. But we were trapped now. I knew I could outrun them if I tried, but I wasn't sure if I could say the same thing about AoMako.

She actually looked kind of scared, which was normal considering half of them were drooling and the one I recognized had just developed rabies and passed out. I leaned over to her.

"If you don't make any sudden movements, they'll usually just line up for autographs and then go away," I whispered. "But if you make any kind of movement that looks anything like an advancement of any kind—and I cannot stress this enough—they will probably eat you alive."

AoMako swallowed. "What are they?"

"Fangirls. I'd say there are about…one-hundred-thirty-six. And that one that got rabies? Don't mind her, she's insane."

"They're…not human. I don't like that look in they're eyes. What is that look in their eyes?"

"Lust. That would be lust, with a hint of die-hard obsession. This seems to be a more aggressive group, so be careful."

Finally, one of them decided to actually say something instead of just standing there staring at us. "M-Makoto-sama…who's your friend?"

AoMako made a choked laughing sound. I guessed it was because she'd been called my friend.

"Um…this is…my cousin. From…Alabama," I explained carefully.

"Where's Alabama, Makoto-sama?"

"Isn't that…America? Like, the northern part of it?" I asked AoMako, who nodded. "Oh. She's from North America."

"Aw, she's a girl too?" the fan complained. "I was going to take her captive at my house and force her to marry me. Makoto-sama, will you marry me instead?"

I was about to answer when the fan who'd gotten rabies suddenly came back to life and slapped the other girl in the face.

"NO! SHE'S MINE! BACK OFF!" she shrieked. I looked at AoMako, who winced.

"They're…terrifying," she stated. I nodded.

"I know."

The previously-rabid fan then turned her attention to the two of us. "HI MY DARLINGS," she hissed. Her eye twitched. I silently reminded AoMako not to make any sudden movements. "You two are beautiful. Let's go make out in a closet. TOGETHER."

"Sorry, I can't…" I laughed nervously. "I have…a very important appointment to get to."

"We both do," AoMako added. "Now move."

The fan who'd been slapped flung herself at me and attached herself to my arm. I tried to keep from fleeing. After all, these were my fans. If I lost them I'd have a significant drop in my fanbase.

"Makoto-sama, that lady slapped me! You should kiss my face and make it better!" the fan yelped. I smiled at her.

"I'll leave that to your mom."

"But I want you to do it!"

"…but I have the flu, and I wouldn't want you to get sick if I did." For good measure, I added, "You're too cute."

The girl looked like she was going to pass out. I secretly wished she would. AoMako rolled her eyes.

And then my savior arrived.

Walking down the street only a block away was a boy I recognized.

_Sora._

AoMako didn't know him, but he was a friend of mine and Yukipyon's. He was the only man Yukipyon was willing to go within thirteen feet of besides Producer. And he was extremely attractive.

"Look!" I shouted, pointing towards him with my free arm. "It's a super-hot teenaged boy! Go after him!"

The fan on my arm whirled towards Sora, who looked up, his attention snatched. Then the fangirls took off after him, squealing in excitement. The previously-rabid fan stared at AoMako and I a little longer, then she developed rabies again and passed out.

Sora let out a cry off alarm. "You!" he shouted. "You did this to me! AHATCHU!"

"Bless you," someone said.

I offered Sora a friendly wave. "Sorry, Sora. Gotta take my twin to see some crabs. Didn't have time for fangirls. Gotta go, bye! And have fun!" Without thinking, I grabbed AoMako's hand from under her arm and ran before the rabid fan could wake up and chase us.

"You're a freak!" Sora shouted after me. "How could you do this to me—OW! That's my leg! LET GO OF MY SHIRT!"

I didn't bother looking back or slowing down until AoMako and I arrived in front of the aquarium. AoMako looked at me quizzically.

"Who was that guy?" she asked.

I shrugged. "A friend," I answered. "Well…at least, he was until today. Poor guy. Anyways, let's head on in."

AoMako blinked. "Fine." After a pause, she looked down at her hand, still attached to mine. "Let go of me, you idiot."

I yanked my hand away. "Sorry," I muttered. "I just needed to get you out of there. You're welcome."

It took a few minutes for her to reply. In fact, we were already halfway to the exhibit before I heard her mutter, "Thanks."

I looked over at her and smiled. "No problem. I just want to see you smile."

AoMako blinked again. "So that's why you brought me here."

"Yup."

"And that's why you paid for both of us?"

"No, I did that because I have more money then I know what to do with anyways. May as well waste it on you, you ungrateful jerk."

"I said thanks."

"Well, it sure took you long enough."

AoMako heaved a great sigh. "You know what, you should just be happy I-" And then she broke off. I watched her stare, wide-eyed, at the three-meter-long and two-meter-wide tide pool filled with the most crustaceans I had ever seen in my life. Tentatively at first, then seemingly more confident, she approached the pool.

"They're…they're so cute," she squeaked, barely above a whisper. I walked up behind her.

"What do you think?"

XenoMako's POV

"What do I think? There must be…there must be at least 46 of them in here!" I gasped. "Look, this one over here is a coconut crab—they're the biggest land species on Earth, you know—and then over here is the largest sea crab. Look at his leg span…Japanese spider crab is what it's called, you can see right here that…" I trailed off. MuraMako was laughing. "W-what's so funny?"

"You were able to name all that without even looking at the place-cards," she pointed out. "You really do know a lot, huh?"

I forced myself not to blush. "So? They're very interesting creatures…"

"And, in the end, you're ecstatic I brought you here."

"I wouldn't say I'm ecstatic," I muttered. "You're annoying."

"So are you!" MuraMako sighed. "Please, just admit you like me. Because you totally do. No human being can resist liking themselves."

"They can if their self is annoying," I countered.

"But you're still happy I brought you here," MuraMako pressed. "Right? Right?"

"OK, fine! Thank you for bringing me, I'm glad you did, and maybe you aren't as annoying as I thought you were at first even though you're still annoying. OK?" I snapped.

MuraMako pumped her fist in the air. "Score! I even got you to willingly admit it. I like you, AoMako. Even if you are a jerk. So could you do me just one favor and smile?" she begged. "Just once would be good enough."

I stared at her for a while, then turned back to the crabs. After a moment, I reached in to touch the Japanese spider crab. It flinched when I touched it, but then it relaxed again and started playing with some coral. I watched it for a few moments before allowing myself to smile.

"It's so cute," I breathed, almost afraid that if I spoke too loud I'd scare it. "They're such a gentle species. You should try petting it."

MuraMako snapped her fingers triumphantly. "There's that smile! You look nice when you smile. You should do that more often." She reached in and put her hand on the spider crab's leg. It twitched and then started playing with the coral again. "It's a sweetie. I half expected it to squeeze my finger off."

"I told you before, they only do that if they feel threatened," I sighed. "Just don't hit it, or shake it, or shove your finger right between its claws."

"I'll remember that."

We stayed at the exhibit for a while. Eventually, I let myself loosen up completely and found myself smiling the whole time we were there. I'm sure MuraMako did something stupid at some point, but I was too excited to care. But at last, the time came when we had to go home.

I gripped onto the edge of the tank stubbornly. "I don't want to go home."

"I know. I'm sure you don't. You seem really happy here," MuraMako said sympathetically. "But it's time to go. You must have known we couldn't stay here forever."

I looked around. No one was there but us. Watching the hallways carefully, I reached into the pool and picked up a smallish Asian shore crab. It wiggled a little but didn't seem ready to attack.

MuraMako raised an eyebrow. "You are not going to take that home with you."

"Watch me." Instinctually, I shoved the crab in my shirt to cover it. "It's a land species so we just need an aquarium to keep it in…"

MuraMako shook her head. "No. No way. My dad is not going to let me keep a crab. Put it back."

"But…it likes me. Otherwise it would have pinched me by now. I'm happy with these guys. The least you can do is let me keep one…"

"AoMako! Bad girl! Take the crustacean out of your shirt and put it back. You can't just steal from an aquarium! I donated yen to make this exhibit. My yen went into this exhibit. Now stop stealing my money and put the crab back."

"…you can't stop me." As soon as the words left my mouth, I stiffened. Something was pinching me—in the breast.

MuraMako sighed. "OK, what happened now?"

I flinched. "Ow," I muttered. "Ow…it's hurting me…"

"What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything! It just started pinching my breast-"

"Your WHAT?! This is what you get for stealing from the aquarium! Now put the perverted crustacean back in the cage young lady!" MuraMako shouted.

I blushed slightly. "You're not my mother."

"AoMako. Get the thing out of your shirt."

I blinked. "Um—ow—I can't."

"You're kidding, right?"

"It's still pinching me…"

"Well, get it off!"

"…I can't."

MuraMako moaned, annoyed. "People are going to get suspicious," she warned. "You shouldn't have taken the thing."

I nodded slowly. "I know. Now will you get it off?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You want _me _to get it off? How do you expect me to do that?"

"Maybe if you annoy it it'll attach itself to your face and let go of me."

"Haha. Or maybe, like most men, once it gets bored with you it'll let go and move on to a new girl."

"What the heck are you insinuating? It's a _crab_—ooow—it just squeezed harder," I complained. "Please just get it off."

"You want me to reach into your shirt…"

"…yes…"

"…and detach a crab from your breast."

"…yes."

"No. There is no way."

"For goodness' sake, just help me already!" I snapped. "It won't get off if you don't help me."

"This is your karma!" MuraMako announced. "This is what you get for being a jerk and stealing from the aquarium!"

"I'm sorry, OK? Now please just get it off!"

She just shook her head at me.

"I think I'm bleeding."

"You deserve it."

"I'll even let you talk to me after today."

"You totally deserve this."

"Ow…I thought you liked me."

"I do. But I'm not going to reach down your shirt."

"We're both girls, for crying out loud! If I admit that I don't find you as annoying anymore and I actually enjoyed today and I think there's a chance I might actually like you, will you get this thing off?!"

And all at once the pain vanished. I blinked, a little startled. It was as if the shore crab had been trying to get me to say I liked MuraMako the whole time.

MuraMako herself flashed me a catty smile. "I knew it," she said slyly. "Now, if you hold still I think I can punch it off of you without hurting you too badly-"

"It's off," I cut in, removing the crab from my shirt. Carefully, I placed it back in the tide pool. "Ow. I'm bleeding."

"Good. Now you know not to steal dangerous sea creatures from aquariums. Can we please go home now?" MuraMako pleaded.

I nodded slowly. "They're not always dangerous…"

"Whatever. I'll even get you something from the gift shop as a reward for not totally loosing it and making me punch a crab off your breast. OK?"

"…you would have made it worse if you'd punched it."

"I know. Now come on."

She held out her hand, and for some reason, I took it. Then we wandered towards the gift shop. As promised, MuraMako bought me a nice crab-shaped pillow that looked a lot like that one I'd owned in my own world. And then it occurred to me, as we were headed home, still holding hands.

I was actually going home.

And, most surprisingly, I was going to miss this place. I squeezed MuraMako's hand a little harder and smiled slightly.

"Hey."

I turned to her. She grinned.

"You're not bad, you know that? I'm gonna miss you when you leave."

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll miss you too, I guess."

"You mean that?"

"…sure."

"Really?"

"I guess."

"You're serious?"

"Don't push it."

MuraMako giggled. I chuckled.

"You know what? When you leave we need to throw a party," MuraMako announced. "N-not to celebrate you leaving…! I-I mean…just to celebrate that you came…"

I blinked. "A party?"

"Uh-huh. And we could get Producer to buy all the decorations with his own money since all of us have been paying for you people left and right so we're all broke except for Yayoi who's too poor anyways. Sound good?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Really?"

"Stop. Just stop it right now."

"OK…"

**(Author's Note: GYAAH THIS CHAPTER**

**IT'S SO LONG BUT IT'S WORTH IT BECAUSE IT WAS SO FUN  
**

**DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH CRAB RESEARCH i HAD TO CONDUCT FOR THIS CHAPTER?**

**But in the end it was worth it. Sora was a cameo appearance of my sister's OC. Some of you may have read an earlier version which included an alternate ending and Jasper, another one of my sister's OCs. But I took Jasper out because he served absolutely no purpose at all, and I chaned the ending because it was too abrupt and I hate abrupt endings.** **This marks the end of the bonding chpaters. I hope you enjoy! If you're wondering why the rest do****n't get bonding chapters, it's because they already had theirs. Yeah. At the begining. OK. **

**I would like to point out that Makoto's rabid fan, the one she recognized? Yeah. _That was me._**

**I was that fan. Uh-huh. Anyways.  
**

**Bye~desu!)**


	24. Bonus Chapter 2

**(Author's Note: The following eight bonus chapers involve heavy amounts of randomness, inside jokes that only a handful of people will understand, and in some cases, extreme hilarity. If you are uninterested in reading about the inside jokes you will not understand but may find funny anyways, please contnue reading. If not, just wait until I get back to the actual story.**

**Kakashi, Sasuke, and Kiba are NOT, and I repeat ARE NOT the guys from Naruto. Neither is Madara. They're just people who have the same name (and in Kiba's case, similar personalities).**

**Isou, Kakashi, Sasuke, Madara, Kiba, Jasper, Domhershire, Kato, and Sora ALL belong to my sister. They are her OCs. Yeah. **

**Please enjoy! Or not. Whatever.**

**Oh, and one more thing: at the beginnging of the chapter when Ami says/thinks "commentate", she means "commemorate".)**

iDOAmi's POV

It'd been decided that we were gonna throw a party to commentate* the twins' arrival. But no one really knew what to do right now because Nii-chan was still out buying decorations. So, in the meantime, we were all just sorta…sitting.

Then there was a series of knocks at the door. I jumped up. "SEXY-CHAN WILL GET IT!" I shrieked, running to the door. When I opened it, I was greeted by a slew of familiar faces. The first person I recognized was a tan-skinned and blonde-haired sexy beast who I knew by the name of Isou. And he was beautiful.

"You're beautiful darling," I stated bluntly, and he chuckled.

"Nice to see you too. So, I heard you guys were having a party. Can we join in the fun?" he asked.

"Of course you can. Sexy beasts are always welcome to Sexy-chan. That's Sexy-chan's name now. Or Great-chan. But Sexy-chan prefers Sexy-chan because Sexy-chan is cool like that," I explained.

Isou nodded slowly. "OK. Um…what?"

"Call Sexy-chan Sexy-chan and not Ami."

"Oh. OK…?"

I led Isou in. With him was a small group of mostly boys. The exception was one man who was a man and not a boy. But they were all male.

"What's this party for, anyways?" grumbled someone I recognized as Kiba, a boy with somewhat doggish traits who was especially close to Ganaha.

"For our twins," I announced.

"Twins?" Isou echoed.

"Yes you gorgeous boy. Sexy-chan has a twin."

"I know that. Mami."

"Amazing-chan."

"What?"

"Mami's name is Amazing-chan now. And Sexy-chan has a different twin now."

"I am so confused…"

Instead of responding, I took him upstairs to the others. Yukipyon was the first to notice them. She squeaked in fear and flung herself at MuraMako, then proceeded to drag Yukiho-chan over to her as well as another wall to hide her from the men. A couple of others waved. Amazing-chan blew a kiss meant for everyone but I stole it from the air before it reached anyone. Amazing-chan grinned. I smiled back.

"OK, so, these people were at the door. This beautiful man is Isou, that dog-boy is Kiba-"

"DOG-BOY!" Ganaha screeched, cutting me off. "LOOKIT 'IM! He's so cute!"

"…OK cool. And this old guy is Kakashi and that's someone else, and that's Sora who is also beautiful but less beautiful then Isou. And that's Madara, that's Jasper, and that's…" I trailed off, staring at a particularly weird-looking guy who was looking lazily around the room, looking for something. MuraMako stiffened, squeaked something, and then hid herself behind Yukipyon, who hid behind Yukiho-chan.

"Who are you?" I asked the weird guy. He looked at me.

"I'm Domhershire," he muttered, in what sounded like your typical stereotypical gay person voice. "Where're all the unappealing ladies?"

"You mean like MuraMako?" I asked him.

"Hey! I-I'm not unappealing! Some guys like me!" MuraMako snapped from behind Yukipyon. Yukipyon tried to say something in her defense but she just wound up squeaking again.

"Oh. Well, she's over there if you want her."

"D-DON'T TELL HIM WHERE I AM! MAKE HIM GO AWAY!"

"Anyways. So this guy is Domhershire. And that other guy I don't recognize is holding a baby," I declared. "Any questions?"

Miura-san raised her hand.

"Miura-san?"

"Why are they here?" she asked quizzically.

"They wanted to join the party," I responded. "Except for Isou, who just wanted to see Sexy-chan. Right my darling?"

Isou blinked sexily. "Um…actually, I came for the party too," he mumbled.

"No you didn't," I corrected. "You came to see Sexy-chan because you love Sexy-chan."

"OK…sure."

I looked around at the twins, wondering when anyone was going to welcome these people. In the end, I decided to just forcibly drag Isou to a dark corner and stare at him.


	25. Bonus Chapter 3

iDOAzu's POV

I stared at the man Sexy-chan had called Kakashi for a while. After a minute of this going on, he finally decided to come say hi. I tried not to blush.

_He's rather handsome._

"Hey, Azusa," he said casually. Azusa-san looked up.

"Oh, no, not you Azusa. Me Azusa," I told her. She nodded and turned back around. "I'm known as Miura-san, actually," I said to Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded. "Oh, OK. Is that your twin? I heard that you had one."

I nodded back. "Yes, that's Azusa-san," I explained. "And…you're Kakashi, right?"

"Mm-hm. I'm your husband."

I tried not to explode from blushing too much or fall out of my chair. "W-what?"

"Well, I'm from this alternate universe place where the two of us are married, and we adopted this kid," Kakashi said, pointing to the kid I didn't recognize who was holding a baby. "We also adopted that kid." Now he pointed at MuraMako, who was hiding desperately behind Yukipyon. When she noticed someone pointing, she emerged.

"Why are you pointing at me? Am I in trouble or something?" she asked cautiously.

"No, you're just my daughter."

"Oh, OK. That makes perfect sense…wait, I'm your daughter? Since when? Isn't my dad, like…alive?"

"Yes, but in the alternate universe I come from, you are my daughter."

MuraMako blinked and stared at him; then she shrugged and hid behind Yukipyon again.

I looked over at the baby. "Who's baby is that?" I asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "Ours," he said dismissively.

"Th-that's our baby?!" I gasped. "S-since when did I have a baby?"

"Can I hold it?" MuraMako asked the kid holding my baby.

"DON'T SHAKE THE BABY!" was the kid's response, squeezing his sister defensively.

"I'm not going to shake it! I just want to hold her!"

"Too bad. She's my sister!"

"She's my sister too!"

Kakashi shook his head. "Those two are always bickering in my universe too," he announced. "Anyways…we should probably go home now. Bye."

"You're leaving?" I whimpered. "But…don't go! I've always wanted to get married…maybe we could get married in this world too!"

"OK. Hey Sasuke, I'm going to get married in this world too."

"Whatever. Just don't shake the baby."

"Alright."

I turned to Azusa-san, excited. "Azusa-san, did you hear that? I'm getting married!" I squealed.

Azusa-san smiled at me. "Congratulations," she praised.

"I know! I'm excited! Everyone, I'm finally getting married!"

"OK. But let's wait until after the party."


	26. Bonus Chapter 4

iDOChiha's POV

I had no idea why the kid Great-san had called Madara was staring at me. Perhaps he was ill and had trouble moving his eyeballs. But in any case, he was staring. I watched him step closer to me and then stand there awkwardly in front of me. He waved. I raised an eyebrow. He smiled. I nodded curtly.

"…hi," he said.

"Hello," I responded.

"I'm a loser from an alternate universe and I love you."

"…excuse me?"

"Nothing. I didn't say anything. You're imagining things," Madara laughed. He coughed. "…this is awkward. So, I'm Madara, and I'm sorry that I'm a loser…"

I shrugged. "I don't think it's fair to brand people as losers, especially people I haven't met," I offered.

Madera grinned. "So you don't think I'm a loser in this universe either?" he confirmed.

"Um…no."

"Cool beans. Can I make out with you?"

"I would prefer if you didn't."

"But I still can, right?"

"No."  
"Oh, OK."

Madara coughed again. "…Chihaya-chan?"

"Please call me Kisaragi until we have become further acquainted."  
Madara nodded. "Kisaragi-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Your sleeve is cute. Can I play with it?"

I blinked. "Pardon?"

"I want to play with your sleeve," Madara repeated.

I blinked again. "Um…OK…?"

Madara walked over to my left side and sat next to me, then he started flicking my sleeve up and down. I stared at him. He giggled.

"Your sleeve is cute."

"Thank you…?"  
"You're gorgeous."

"…thank you…?"

Then my sleeve slipped off my shoulder, leaving my bra partially revealed. I blinked. Madara stared. Then he chuckled.

I blushed and pulled my sleeve back up. "W-what are you doing?"

Madara blushed. "I-I'm sorry…

I turned away from him. "If you want to see a girl's chest, go flirt with her," I ordered, pointing at Chihaya-san. Chihaya-san looked at us quizzically.

"What do you want?" she snapped. Madara cowered into my arm.

"She scares me," he hissed. "Like…a lot. You're sweeter."

_Sweet. He thinks I'm sweet? That's new, _I realized, glancing over at Madara.

"…hey, Chihaya-chan?"

"Uta-chan," I corrected.

"It suits you you beautiful woman."

"…thank you…?"

"Anyways…will you marry me?" Madara asked.

I blinked. "No," I answered simply.

Madara looked dejected. "…will you at least be my girlfriend and let me take you to the Karaoke Hokey-Doke-Poke to get some coffee?"

I shrugged. "I suppose…? But I won't become your girlfriend indefinitely. If anything, my boyfriend is my songs," I demanded.

Madara blinked. "Oh. OK. Let's go, then!"

"Sure."


End file.
